Fun The lighter side of life and accountancy

The Apprentice is back, and so are the accountants

Dublin-based accountant Kevin D’Archy is among the candidates for the latest series of The Apprentice, which returned on 5 January.

He has a side hustle which he started in lockdown – a water sports business – which turned over just under half-a-million pounds in two years. And his biggest weakness? “In short, I can be a little outspoken, so probably not knowing when to shut up.”

Also on the list of 18 is Denisha Kaur Bharj, a financial controller. She said she can handle pressure and is constantly thinking ahead. Let’s see if that works!

Looking ahead for a mid-life crisis?

Researchers have confirmed that people really do have a midlife crisis and work-related stress will peak at 45. Well, that’s something to look forward to!

The study suggested that a combination of social issues and psychological stress hit many in their late forties or early fifties. The scientists said people feel overwhelmed in their workplace and 45 seems to be the age when all your buttons are being pressed at once.

Interestingly, they were unable to explain why there was a sudden decline in psychological and emotional health, although being disappointed with one’s lot or feeling unfulfilled appears to come to the fore. Just feeling old also adds to the problem!

The good news is that once you come out the other side you become less neurotic and selfconscious.

It is a cracker – 3,275 file their UK tax return on Christmas Day

When is the perfect time to get your tax return into HMRC? Well, for 3,275 taxpayers Christmas Day worked!

In all, 22,060 taxpayers submitted their self assessment tax form between Christmas Eve and Boxing Day. This is down on the 31,000 ‘customers’ who filed their returns for 2020/2021 in the same period.

Some 141 people even filed between 23.00 and 23.59 on 24 December – meaning they could really enjoy Christmas Day with all their admin sorted.

The deadline to file and pay any tax owed for the 2021 to 2022 tax year is 31 January 2023.

Trumps trumps former presidents

Top tax tutor Neil da Costa recently posted his thoughts on the publication of Donald Trump’s tax returns: “Finally, former president’s tax returns have been released and reveal that in 2020, he paid no tax. In 2016, he only paid $750 in tax. He was able to do this despite him and his wife Melania earning tens of millions in investment income by offsetting business losses and claiming tax depreciation for the properties he owns. Tax avoidance is perfectly legal, and Mr Trump did nothing wrong. The IRS reported that they had insufficient resources to carefully examine his estimated 400 business interests. So, why was Mr Trump reluctant to reveal his tax returns as is customary amongst US Presidents? According to a Democrat spokesperson, this was because he was trying to hide his lack of business acumen. In terms of comparison with previous Presidents Clinton, GW Bush and Obama, Trump had the highest income but due to efficient tax planning paid the lowest rate of tax. The comparison also showed that Presidential book writing can be extremely lucrative with previous presidents earning millions from their memoirs.”

Acca’s cross

A keen PQ magazine reader recently sent us a picture of Acca’s Cross in Hexham. Acca was Bishop of Hexham between 709 and 732. The Hexham Abbey website explains that the vibrant musical life of the Abbey today can trace its roots back to Acca: he was an accomplished musician as well as an outstanding theologian, and he was determined that music and liturgy in Hexham should be as fine as anywhere in Europe. The Cross is no longer complete, and what remains has been re-assembled from several fragments. The two top pieces of the Cross were rescued from the foundations of a warehouse near the site of St Mary’s Church in the Market Place, adjacent to the Abbey; and the lower section spent some time serving as the lintel over a farmhouse door in nearby Dilston.

New banknotes unveiled

The Bank of England has unveiled the design of the King Charles III banknotes. The portrait of the King will appear on existing designs of all four polymer banknotes (£5, £10, £20 and £50), with no other changes to the existing designs.

The King’s image will appear on the front of the banknotes, as well as in cameo in the see-through security window. The new notes are expected to enter circulation by mid-2024. All polymer banknotes carrying a portrait of HM Queen Elizabeth II remain legal tender, and the public can continue to use them as normal. In line with guidance from the Royal Household, to minimise the environmental and financial impact of this change new notes will only be printed to replace worn banknotes and to meet any overall increase in demand for them. Notes featuring HM Queen Elizabeth II and King Charles III will therefore co-circulate.

Mr President and then CEO!

Before becoming CEO of ICAEW in 2006, Michael Izza was an FD at 30 for Birra Moretti, and then an MD at 32. But how did it all start?

Before he joined Coopers & Lybrand, he had spent a year as president of Durham Students’ Union. We let him take up the story: “For a 21-year-old that was a really interesting experience: we employed 25 members of staff, I was on the university’s Council and Senate, I met the Secretary of State for Education – and I got an early taste of some of the things I have in this job. It was a really important time in my life.

“When I started training, I absolutely went in at the bottom – I was making tea and doing photocopying – and initially I did wonder, ‘Don’t they know I’m the immediate past president of Durham Students’ Union?’ But you’ve just got to get over that and get on with it! Pretty quickly I started doing things that were more interesting. I trained in the Manchester office, and we had a wide range of clients from small businesses to multinationals, so I got a real spectrum of experience.”