Tax Refunds for Heating Engineers on PAYE

Posted on March 31, 2023 by schatzi

The second installation of our tax refund mini-series looks at what tax deductions are available to Heating Engineers working under the PAYE (Pay As You Earn) system.

Who?

The majority of Heating Engineers on PAYE can claim a tax refund. Self-employed engineers, or those who are on CIS, cannot claim this refund service.

How?

The refund can be claimed by any UK taxpayer who provides his/her own equipment and/or small tools for work; anyone who has wear a uniform to work; or anyone who has to incur both expenses. Special definitions in The Income Tax Act (2003) allow regular employees (i.e. those on PAYE) to claim tax deductions against expenses. When applied, these increase the amount of money a Heating Engineer can earn before he/she needs to pay tax.

How much?

If you’re a Heating Engineer on PAYE, and you have to provide your own tools and equipment for work, wear a uniform, or both, you can claim up to £120 tax relief for each year back to April 2004. A total of £600 tax relief is awarded for a full, six-year claim – with the annual amounts being set by the tax office in conjunction with industry trade unions and other relevant industry bodies. The rate has been designed to reflect the average amount a Heating Engineer might have to spend each year in work expenses, and once is has been applied, will result in a cash rebate of approximately £130.

How long?

Allow 10-12 working days from the date of submission, but be aware that this can vary slightly in accordance with how busy the tax office is.

How do I claim?

If you wish to claim tax relief as a heating engineer, you should act fast because the deadline for PAYE claims is approaching. After January 31 you’ll be unable to claim for the 2004-5 tax year.

To claim a tax refund against the tools and equipment you have to provide at work, and/or any uniform you have to wear, take a look at the links below. It takes just a couple of minutes to apply, and it could be worth a small fortune.

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Answering Service for Real Estate Firms

Posted on March 30, 2023 by schatzi

While some real estate agents forward office calls to their mobile phones, they never have the time to pick up many of these calls because they are busy dealing with clients. This leaves them with tons of voice messages to deal with and lots of clients lost because the real estate agent was unreachable. The idea of having a remote receptionist service for real estate firms is therefore one that seems like the best solution for this profession. Answering services are great because they give real estate firms the help they direly need when it comes to handling the multitude of calls coming in. A real estate agent can rest assured knowing that all calls made to their firm will be attended to in the most professional manner. Below we highlight some of the advantages real estate firms get with an answering service.

Organization

For starters, an answering service can help you stay organized. Clients call for various reasons, while others are ready to take on the property you recently showed them, others are simply enquiring. This means that you need someone who can help you organize the calls you received and grade them as well. With a remote receptionist service this is exactly what you get. You get assistance when it comes to tasks such as appointment scheduling and even grading incoming leads. This makes your firm more efficient and swift when it comes to meeting the needs of the client. This is a great way of helping your firm enhance its professional image.

Cost Savings

One of the best benefits that come with a 24 hour real estate answering service is that it is perhaps the most cost effective way to manage your office. Phone calls are and will always be an important line of a real estate agent’s work. They come in great volumes and for a firm to run smoothly; it may require a couple of receptionists or even set up a call center. This means major investments and not to mention salaries as well and even more financial pressure if your staff are eligible to benefits. This could drain your firm’s resources. With a real estate call center, these are expenses you can avoid because you do not have to hire several people. You simply take up a package and pay monthly prices, thus relieving your firm of the burden of hiring multiple employees or running an office call center.

Lead Capture

The main goal for a real estate agent is to access as many properties as possible for sellers and buyers. This means constantly meeting new clients, preparing viewings and coordinating contracts as well. Sometimes, it’s impossible not to get overwhelmed. This is where a virtual call center service comes in to provide lead generation services. Your clients get direct responses and you get inbound sales information, after hours phone answering and other lead generation services.

Professionalism

Professionalism is the back bone for success. People want to deal with real estate agents that communicate with them properly and are able to be useful information and assistance always. The good thing about having an answering service for real estate firms is that you can rest assured knowing that all calls made to your firm are handled in professional manner. This means that your clients don’t get a call forwarding service or a call center that simply receives messages. What you get is an answering service that can be able to handle your clients’ needs and this is more like having an office assistance although virtually. Calls are prioritized according to importance and only very urgent are forwarded to you. This means that you do not have to worry about the reception your clients are getting and can also work without being bombarded by phone calls.

An inbound call center for real estate firms comes with very many uses as you can see. This are not simply blanket services but customized to the needs of the client. Calls are not made obvious that they are coming from a data center and clients are therefore able to build a good rapport with the firm. These services are increasingly becoming essential in business and the real estate industry is one that could perhaps benefit the most.

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Creating Printed Materials For Healthcare Marketing Professionals

Posted on March 29, 2023 by schatzi

Many times, marketing or advertising agencies have a broad range of clients. As a result, the marketing professionals that work for the company need to know how to extend their knowledge to accurately represent all types of brands and organizations. Because different marketing methods are employed depending on the type of client, it can sometimes be hard for a non-specialized marketing agency to accurately market and gain business for every organization or company they represent. For instance, one would go about marketing a non-profit differently than a restaurant, and also differently from a healthcare facility.

The healthcare field is one such field that needs to be marketed differently. For those looking to get the word out or re-brand their healthcare organization, it’s a good idea to turn to healthcare marketing professionals with vast experience in the field. With an organization that focuses specifically on healthcare marketing, clients can expect great results that successfully advertise their name to the public and ultimately increase their facility’s ROI.

Let Marketing Professionals Handle It

The hallmark of many healthcare facilities is printed materials including newsletters, magazines and collateral marketing materials. It can take a lot of time, money, and effort to create beautiful, error-free publications that are easy to read, appeal to a target audience, and are well designed. Those in the healthcare field, even in an administrative or managerial role, often don’t have the time, marketing know-how, or technical printing background to effectively market and brand an organization.

With an agency that specializes in healthcare marketing, clients can rest assured knowing that their healthcare facility will be advertised to the right people, the right way. Healthcare marketing professionals can help create and distribute content relevant to each specific healthcare field. Whether it is in the form of newsletters, in-house magazines, or physician publications, the content created by these marketing professionals will improve your relationship with your target audience.

Printing for Healthcare Marketing Clients

Healthcare marketing professionals may focus on healthcare, but the basis of their education is in effective marketing. Marketing agencies are made up of experienced writers who can promote healthcare organizations and successfully communicate their benefits and features to clients, doctors, and potential customers. Graphic and web designers can create beautiful, eye-catching newsletters, magazines, and web pages to go with the compelling text. And healthcare advertising professionals know how to properly prepare a document for print, and where to go for the most cost-effective yet professional print job.

Newsletters sent to clients or patients are a great way to let them know about upcoming specials, new services, a change of hours, or any other business news. In-house magazines can spread the word within the company about individual professional achievements, upcoming events, and more. Publications specifically for physicians can highlight new, innovative medical technology and methods, and employee publications can keep workers in the know, promoting company unity.

Hire healthcare marketing professionals to accurately portray your healthcare organization to the public. These professionals are able to create expertly printed materials with a polished voice that effectively communicates news to current and potential clients, other doctors, and competitors in the field.

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Avoid Payday Loan Rollovers

Posted on March 28, 2023 by schatzi

Payday loans are an often criticized means of obtaining short-term financing with no credit check. Used by millions each year, payday loans are thought by some to be financial blessings since they are often the only method of financing for those with poor borrowing histories. But despite their demand, consumer advocate groups often vehemently speak out against this type of financing, largely due to a mechanism inherently built into these loans: the rollover.

What is a Rollover?

Imagine a borrower who approaches a payday lender for a loan and takes out an initial two-week line of credit for $100 with a $15 dollar fee-an annual percentage rate (APR) of roughly 390 percent. As that two-week deadline approaches, the borrower finds he has other debt obligations to fulfill with this upcoming paycheck, so he strolls back into the street-corner lending office and asks to extend his loan term.

The lender explains to him that he can extend his term by taking out an additional loan to cover the original loan’s amount. So the borrower finances another payday loan, but this time it’s for $115 with a $17 fee-again an APR of 390 percent, but this time it’s higher due to the new principal covering the cost of the original loan.

The borrower just practiced what is called a payday loan rollover. A rollover is the name given to a subsequent loan taken out to pay off an existing loan.

If the borrower rolls over that second cash advance again, he would be expected to finance $132 with a fee of $19.75.

As the rollover process continues, our borrower would find himself on an ever quickening “debt treadmill.” Like an accelerating treadmill where one is constantly being forced to run quicker and quicker just to stay in place, a debt treadmill forces a borrower to consistently pay increasing sums of money just to make good on an original payday loan.

Assuming our fictitious borrower was able to payback his third rollover and escape this debt treadmill, he would ultimately pay the lender $151.75 for his original $100 loan-more than 50 percent in interest.

Why do Rollovers Exist?

The unfortunate existence of rollovers is actually a side effect from the risk that payday lenders subject themselves to by being a part of the short-term lending industry. Since these lenders grant their financing indiscriminately to borrowers regardless of credit score, they naturally encounter a high rate of default.

In fact, the default rate is believed to be around a consistent six percent, as found in the Missouri Division of Finance’s payday lending surveys. While that number may not seem high, a six percent default rate actually reduces lenders’ profitability by drastic numbers.

For instance, imagine the lender in our above example who originates payday loans at an APR of 390 percent. If he lends money to ten individuals, each seeking installments of $100, that lender can expect to make a total of $150 (ten loans multiplied by $15 interest).

But with a six percent default rate on $1,000 lent, the lender can expect to lose $60 (six percent of the $1,000 lent), bringing his total net profit to $80 (or $60 subtracted from the $150 gross profit). If the lender decreases his APR, he risks falling into insolvency if that default rate rises any higher.

Since lenders are forced to keep their interest rates at very high levels in order to remain solvent, borrowers will continue to default at high rates. Thus this vicious cycle feeds off of itself in a never-ending merry-go-round.

The important thing for borrowers to remember is that payday loans should always be paid back as soon as possible. If rollovers are avoided, borrowers may find payday loans to be healthy financing options which can be used to deal with unexpected expenses between paychecks.

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