Monday, December 15, 2008

Tax Credit Overpayments - Are you a victim in need of advice and support?

Each year, due to the way in which tax credits are assessed and awarded, many people find themselves having been overpaid; with subsequent demands from HMRC to recover the money, sometimes in the thousands which undoubtedly causes stress.

Not all instances are correct, miscalculations do occur, so, before you make a payment it would be wise to seek independent advice from those that have been in the same situation before.

The Tax Credit Casualties are a voluntary organisation run by and for victims of tax credit overpayments and subsequent unfair recovery.

They offer support to people receiving overpayment demands, to enable them to know their rights and dispute automatic recovery. They also campaign and lobby cross-party MPs to support a full write-off of all non-fraudulent overpayments.

The website offers a wide range of information, from how to make calculations, understanding all the jargon, how to dispute a claim and even how to stop a court case. There is also a forum for you to share your views.

http://www.tax-sorted.biz/
http://www.stinkybooks.co.uk/

Thanks to Phil Richards for this one

Monday, December 01, 2008

5 Top Time Management Tips

1. Delegate - Divide your work into what you must do and what others can do for you.

2. Organise your work space - Categorise all paper on your “To Do" list. Consider a less paper office and use an electronic filing system where everyone knows how to retrieve it.

3. Incoming calls break concentration - Use voicemail for 2 hours per day. Stack up calls and deal with them in a batch at a convenient time to you.

4. Manage outgoing calls - Group calls and set aside a block of time to make them.

5. Junk Email - If you get lots of irrelevant emails, take the time to remove yourself from the distribution list or send to your junk mail folder.