Fun The lighter side of life; and more great PQ giveaways

Excelling at Excel

Ever thought of being a Microsoft Excel influencer? Kat Norton, or Miss Excel as she is known to her friends, has over one million followers on TikTok and Instagram. Add a bit of software training (Excelerator Course) and maybe like her, you could be generating up to six-figure income a day – yes, that’s every day! She started all this in June 2020, and still uses her iPhone and consumer software to make her videos. Her first video was just 14 seconds long, explaining Excel’s ‘lockup’ function. She did this while lip-syncing to X Gon’ Give It To Ya by the American rapper DMX. Check out miss-excel. thinkific.com. Elon Musk has revealed he will be paying quite a lot in tax in 2021. The Telsa CEO said in a tweet: “For those wondering, I will pay over $11 billion in taxes this year.” One report said that Musk had already paid $7 billion in state and federal taxes last year, and another $5 billion was due by 1 January 2022. The reason for the big bill is that in November Musk started selling off billions worth of Tesla shares, for which he has to pay a combined tax rate of 53%. He doesn’t take a salary or cash bonuses as Tesla CEO, and instead is paid in stock. It has been reported that Musk paid zero income tax (federal) in 2018 and only paid $455 million in taxes in the previous four years as his wealth grew by $13.9 billion.

Time to file your ’elf assessment?

What were you doing on Christmas Day? Well, HMRC says it received 2,828 Self Assessment tax returns on 25 December this year. That’s up on the 2,700 sent last Christmas. The peak time for filing was 12.00 to 12.59 when 227 returns were received. In total, 31,000 taxpayers submitted their 2020/21 tax return between Christmas Eve and Boxing Day. HMRC believes for thousands of taxpayers filing their tax return has become part of the Christmas tradition, up there with watching the Queen’s Speech. The deadline of Self Assessment filing is 31 January 2022.

Backpacker's tax victory

Australia tax authorities had to climb down after British traveller Catherine Addy won her battle for equal treatment when it comes to tax. She claimed in the High Court that the tax authorities were discriminating against her because of her nationality, and contravened a double taxation agreement the Australia has with the UK. Addy said she should have received the tax-free threshold and a lower tax rate after that. Instead, she was forced to pay 15% on all her earning up to £20,200. It all means that backpackers on working visas (417 or 462 since 2017) may now be able to have their Australian tax assessment reviewed. But where were the tax professionals here – why did it take a backpacker to get tax justice? The cynics may say that maybe they didn’t see any profit in helping! Two of our former PQ magazine Tutor of the Year winners recently caught up after being in lockdown. Sean Purcell and Tom Clendon have been mates (and friends of PQ magazine) for a long time, and we recently came across a very old picture of them in earlier times. Loving the jackets and ties boys!

’ W E V E G O T T H E L O T

Believe it or not!

Meet the man who has made a model of the Empire State Building – in cheese. Marvel at the heart-warming story of the dog that adopted five kittens. Read all about the curse of Ötzi, the 5,000-year-old iceman mummy. Be amazed by the strange and extraordinary sea creatures that create their own light. Bursting with brilliant facts, fantastic stories and eye-popping photographs, this all-new edition of Ripley's Believe It or Not! 2022: All True! All Weird! All Wild! will entertain, inform and flabbergast you. Your 2022 won’t be complete without it. To be in with a chance of winning one of three annuals we’re giving away email your name and address to giveways@pqmagazine.com. Head up your email ‘I believe!’.

Time for battleships

This brand-new book contains 100 battleships puzzles, split into easy, medium and hard sections. Battleships is a lovely little logic puzzle with the following rules: you are given a fleet of ships, and you must deduce where they are each placed in the grid. Ships are surrounded on all sides by water. To help you find where ships are placed, there are numbers around the outside of the grid. These numbers tell how you many ship segments are to be found in each row and column of the grid. There are usually also some ship segments given in the start position to help get you started. We have three books to give away. To be entered into our free draw simply send your name and address to giveways@pqmagazine.com and we will do the rest. Head up your email ‘Battleships’.

Terms and conditions: One entry per giveaway please. You must send your name and address to be entered for the draw. All giveaway entries must be received by Friday 11 February 2022. The main draw will take place on Monday 14 February 2022. TO ENTER THESE GIVEAWAYS EMAIL GIVEAWAYS@PQMAGAZINE.COM