There was an interesting article on Radio 4 the other day as I was driving from the airport to work. It took the average UK family’s net income of £20,500 and used that to illustrate what the nation’s finances would look like on that scale. It turns out that the family would be borrowing £6,500 a year on top.

The tax man has netted an extra £12.6bn from its investigations into large company’s corporation tax over the last 4 years.

Fears of a double-dip recession have been alleviated, at least temporarily, by a report released at the end of last week that showed that GDP rose 0.2% in the first quarter of 2010.

Now that the real dark cloud over the UK has blown away, I suppose we ought to focus on the important stuff, like the election. Thanks to a bravura – or was it merely unchallenged – performance by Nick Clegg, the polls are all up on the air again.

Carrington Accountancy have come up with a novel way to keep their contractors abreast with the latest changes in legislation and tax planning.

71% of small businesses have received at least one late payment over the past year according to a study by NatWest. They have discovered that the cumulative value of unpaid invoices currently stands at £62.87 billion.

With just over two weeks until the general election, leading contractor accountant Kate Cottrell takes a look at the main parties’ manifestos, and in particular any promises for contractors and IR35.

New HMRC penalties came into effect at the beginning of the tax year (April 6th) but SMEs may be unaware that they have been fined for late payment of PAYE for over 12 months.

Just for a change, there’s a dark cloud hanging over Britain. Instead of the usual one we get from having to deal with the Government and all its works, we’re covered in volcanic ash.

Further signs that the country has seen the back of the recession came in the form of the Lloyds TSB Business Barometer.

As from the 6th April, any business that hopes to avail of the ‘time to pay’ scheme and defer a tax payment of over £1m, has to pay for an Independent Business Review that will cost an average of £42,500.

So our Beloved Leader has finally allowed us an election. Good news on several fronts. I make no secret of my desire to see the end of the current Parliament in general and our sitting PM in particular.