Had a renewal reminder you haven't got around to dealing with?
Renew here http://www.pcg.org.uk/join.html

The Newsletter issued 17 Apr 03 was numbered 19/03..but the heading may have stated 20/03. The correct issue number was 19/03. Apologies for any confusion!

Inland Revenue Tax Bulletin Issue 64: Businesses, Individuals and the Settlements Legislation.

The Inland Revenue have now issued their Bulletin on Section 660 and more detailed information can be found:

http://www.inlandrevenue.gov.uk/bulletins/tb64.htm

With comments and a PDF format of the Bulletin available at the link below:

http://www.pcg.org.uk/threads/showpost.pl?f=newlegal-7461&p=0&v=c&s=5

There is also an element of the Section 660 legislation concerning working overseas and the link to comments by Gareth Williams, Director for Public Affairs, along with the link to the Bulletin content, is below:

http://www.pcg.org.uk/threads/showpost.pl?f=newlegal-7462&p=0&v=c&s=5

PCG Elections

The voting process for the CC elections has now commenced and 15 of the 30 places on the Consultative Council are being vacated by the current Council Members. In view of the wide availability of Internet Access the timetable has been shortened this year to 2 weeks for nominations and a further 2 weeks for the voting to take place. The timetable for the elections is outlined below:

21st April - 5th May ~ voting
6th May ~ election results announced
10th May ~ first CC meeting and Board election

The following PCG members are eligible to be elected or re-elected to the CC:

1. Mike Brown
2. Philip Down
3. Ian Durrant
4. Ian Goddard
5. Court Guinness
6. Mike Halford
7. Simon Juden
8. Rob King
9. Steven Knowles
10. Andrew McDonald
11. David McKelvie
12. Gurdial Rai
13. Alan Watts
14. Gareth Williams
15. Brett Wing
16. Ajmal Zia

This is only open to Contractor Members to participate in. Associates do not have voting rights for PCG Elections. Full election rules and information have been published for the start of the nomination process. There is now also a direct link from the right hand side of the PCG home page to the elections website.

PCG at National Small Business Week Exhibition

PCG will be at Stand E56 in Hall 2 of the exhibition taking place at Earls Court 28 - 30 Apr inclusive. Timings are 10 am to 5pm. Any members attending are welcome to drag non member colleagues along to see what we have to offer! There is ample car parking around the Earls Court area.

Member Services - Trinatours

Trinatours can help with providing access to over 650 hotels across the UK at discounted rates including Holiday Inn and Hilton Groups. PCG members have access to a dedicated phone line for bookings and need only to pay for extras on departure.

With membership of IATA, Trinatours can offer PCG members access to discounted flights with all the leading airlines. Further details can be found at:

http://www.pcg.org.uk/members/Trinatours.html

There is also an email address to Trinatours for members to make use of from today:

[email protected].

Mobile Phones, Computer Chips and Related Equipment

New VAT Rules on 'joint and several liability’

The above leaflet has been sent to all those in the trade sectors affected by a fraud called 'missing trader intra-community fraud' (MTIC fraud). It tells you about the new rules and a two-month period of consultation that is taking place.

If you buy or sell mobile phones, computer chips, or related equipment in the course of your business, you may now need to be more careful about whom your suppliers and customers are.

From 10th April 2003, new VAT rules mean that if your supplier or someone else in that supply chain fails to pay the VAT to Customs and Excise, you may be liable to pay it yourself. This is called 'joint and several liability'. This will only happen if Customs believe you knew (or you had reasonable grounds to suspect) that the VAT had not, or would not, be paid.

The new rules are part of changes in the law, announced in the 2003 budget, to crack down on MTIC fraud involving mobile phones and computer chips.

MTIC fraud is where someone registers for VAT specifically to purchase goods VAT free from another member state of the European Union, sells them at a VAT-inclusive price in the UK, then goes missing without paying the VAT to HMC&E.

The new rules aim to put serial abusers of the VAT system out of business by discouraging people from dealing with them, and so allow honest businesses to compete fairly

RLM’s

Aberdeen Meeting
PCG AWP Get Together
Venue: Inn at the Park, Polmuir Road, Aberdeen
Time: 18:30 Wednesday April 30th.
Forum Discussion:
http://www.pcg.org.uk/threads/showpost.pl?f=meet-5985&p=0&v=c&s=5

Contact: Ajmal Zai (AZ)
The format will be informal & non PCG members are very welcome. A draft agenda is set out below but feel free to raise any other issues during the meeting.

- IR35 in light of the recent High Court judgement
- S660 - Settlements Legislation (potentially worse than IR35!)
- IR Investigations
- Investigations Insurances
- PCG IR35 Guide
- PCG CC Elections
- AOB

Anyone in Zurich?
The ink is now drying on a new contract I have taken up just after Easter. Who's around in the PCG canton? Staying for 6 months, hopefully longer. Forum Discussion: http://www.pcg.org.uk/threads/showpost.pl?f=meet-5978&p=0&v=c&s=5
Contact: David Fawcett (DWMF)

Thames Valley - Maidenhead
Venue: The Vine
Time: April 30th 8pm
Forum Discussion:
http://www.pcg.org.uk/threads/showpost.pl?f=meet-5957&p=0&v=c&s=5
Contact: Simon Juden (sjuden)