Member postings for Sam Longley 1

So in the grand scheme of things the 2 days doing the VAT with the 1 days visit were proportionally minimal -compared with everything else- & not the burden that you suggested. Although a pain in the butt when busy !!!!!

When my 2 business were active. I had about 60 active customers & over 300/400 invoices per quarter.( Bear in mind they were in construction & involved a lot of alteration retentions etc not just simple invoices) It took about 20 minutes to prepare my VAT return & about the same to ensure that I had correctly posted them on the HMRC website for each company- staggered 1 month apart

If you took 2 days then i would suggest that you were leaving your accounts to the last minute or were very disorganised.The infrequent visits from the VAT inspector were never a problem if books were kept in order. I have never had any major problems with VAT & visits have never lasted more than a day every 4-5 years or so. I now only have one company & work as a consultant . The last inspection was 9 years ago & lasted 2 hours.

I like VAT as a tax , not so much as for the fact that I have to pay it, but for the fact that it is by far the easiest tax for me to operate & by far the easiest for the HMRC to collect. If it was not for the fact that it tends to be a greater proportion of the poorer persons income ( because they have to spend all there income & have none spare in comparison to the wealthy who do not have to spend all their cash so the statistics are distorted ) I would rather they increased VAT & did away with PAYE & the hassle & work that creates. Collecting tax from wages really is a full time job. If there was a way for the current non tax payer to reclaim VAT it would be great to pay more VAT & not income tax. It would save fortunes in unnecessary bureaucracy

I think one needs to correct that misconception

One is allowed to claim expenses in connection with operating the business.

Which is different to expenses for personal use which I believe that you are implying in your general text

Edited By Sam Longley 1 on 15/12/2016 06:00:56

As a yachtsman I have a problem in that VAT on red diesel is 5% because it is used for farmers & fishermen etc. marinas generally only sell red diesel. The EU object to yachtsmen having red fuel aboard & in belgium some boaters have been fined for having red fuel as they consider it illegal as they cannot be sure VAT has been paid on it. France will allow us to have red in our tanks on arrival but not in cans for top up. The same in Holland. So because I go to Belgium a lot i have to transport white fuel to my boat & use it all the time to avoid traces of red in my tank.

Currently yachtsmen in the uK can get Vat dispensation for proportion of fuel they claim for heating & battery charging so the bill will show 2 rates of VAT. This really winds the Belgians up. So even showing them receipts to prove VAT has been paid does not mean one will not be fined. So our use of cheaper red diesel ( even though it can be dearer than white diesel abroad) really causes a problem because of VAT rates

Hang on ! i thought a trillion was a million million so that is 6 digits plus 6 digits= 12 digits( plus the denominator =13 & you have 19 of them

Then I thought we had 64 million people ( is that right or have I forgotten 3.5 M immigrants ) so 27 * 64 = 1728 * stick 9 noughts on to that( Thousand , million) & we get £1,728,000,000,000.( Now I make that 1.7 trillion)

Is that right ???????

Edited By Sam Longley 1 on 14/12/2016 19:58:36

Like you i missed the experience

Yet there are those that said that it gave a sense of discipline to youth & i know some who actually used there time to start the learnings of a trade

So although many said that I suspect that many did not actually want to admit that it did do them some good

But you probably applied a modicum of common sense, learned how to cope with such things, became a more rounded mature person able to deal with problems on your own & did not go running to the nearest H & S claims lawyer when you burnt your finger tips

On TV the series Mythbusters set up a domestic hot water cylinder in a domestic type situation & shut the valves.

They then let temperature & pressure rise.

the resulting bang sent the split cylinder through the ceiling & about 100ft into the air

I still liked the one about how to remove hardened concrete from a readymix concrete lorry using semtex ( or something like that) the best though !!!!!

Must remember not to use too much next time

I am sure forumites are aware but it has to be said :----

If one is going to use polystyrene then one should be certain that it is fire resisting grade. Many of the light weight "large granule" white sheets are not. They are also less impact resistant. The fumes can be dangerous & in a workshop, fire must be considered a distinct possibility.

With Celotex etc the requirement for vapour barrier is not needed as the foil facing acts as such but the joints do need to be taped with aluminium foil

I took some 25 * 50mm battens & lined them up with the joints in the concrete panels vertically. I loosened the joint bolts & wound some doubled up tying wire around one end of the bolts & round the battens then back round the other end of the bolt. Using steel fixers end cutters I tensioned the wire so much so that it cut into the batten. There were 4 bolts to each joint so each joint got 4 ties. I then cut 25mm celotex between each piece of batten. At windows I cut the battens & pinned them horizontally so the ends pinned to the verticals. At the door there were extra strong studs so i was able to screw the 25*50 batten. Having done this I pinned 4mm ply horizontally all round. I then cut some more 4ft * 8 ft ply in 2 ft strips * 8ft & pinned this round to cover the celotex to a height of 6 ft which protects it adequately. the celotex above this is exposed for about 150mm . I cut off cuts of celotex to fit double thickness into the eaves.

For the roof i placed 25 th celotex from the eaves to the wood purlins & one end was trapped at the eaves & at the purlin end I pinned some 12 * 12 batten to the side of the purlin to hold the celotex. Between purlin & ridge I did a similar method of fixing

For the garage door & glued 25mm celotex to the back of the door with recesses for the control gear but being 25 th it goes behind the lock bars ok & does not upset the balance of the garage door for opening

25 celotex is ample for a workshop & it warms up with a 2kw electric fan heater in 30-45 mins

I have no condensation problems. There is no insulation in the slab& it is not necessary. The slab is unreinforced 125mm concrete. The workshop is 22ft & 10 ft 3ins with cementous sheet roof. 2 windows, 1 up & over door & one metal side door. I had the extra height option to give me headroom inside

Edited By Sam Longley 1 on 05/12/2016 21:19:18

Thanks

Parts suitably tippexed ready for a go tomorrow

I am silver soldering a large & a small sprocket onto a bush to sit on a layshaft. i wanted to drill the bush between the two for a grub screw just to locate the bush on the shaft rather than place collars each side of it. I do not need any keyway & have no facility to cut one anyway.

i have to drill & tap the hole before I silver solder the sprockets onto the bush as the diameter of the largest bush is 100mm & the grubscrew is 4mm from it with the smaller sprocket another 6mm from that so there is only a 10mm gap.

My problem is how to prevent the silver solder filling the grub screw hole. If I place the screw in , sod's law dictates that it will solder itself in place. if I do not then the hole will fill with dross

Is there a simple trick to prevent this?

Do I have to re think the process & forget the grubscrew hole altogether?

Surely the next course of action after a CCJ is a balif

That would be my approach.

Must have something worth seizing for sale. Even if it just messes him up it is worth doing

If not a limited company there must be some assets somewhere that can be seized.

Edited By Sam Longley 1 on 30/11/2016 19:21:29

I took quite a few to the small claims ranging from John Lang ( Construction Co) to Tower Hamlets LA to small local traders

I never messed about waiting. I found one would just get strung along. I always used Thos higgins as not only were they cheap but very efficient. My greatest joy was when the baliff went into Tower Hamlets offices & seized goods to the auction value of £ 3500-00. Tower Hamlets were so badly organised it was unbelievable. He gave them loads of notice Yet they still ignored it.

I took 2 local schools that I did work for £ 18K total, because they all cleared off on summer hols & thought they could forget paying me for 8 weeks. Caused quite a stir when the headmasters got called back off holidays.

Never wait for money. it is yours & non payment is theft. Get a reputation for going for it & you get paid on time

Plumbers hemp & boss white

That is typical of some of the silly rumours attached to H & S that people love to publish

If such a thing was a deemed risk - such as in children's nurseries- then they fit finger guards to the hinge side of the door & that is quite common

However, I tend to agree wholeheartedly with the second statement about truth.

With the metal strips in it ????

Like this?

**LINK**

Excuse the test !!!!!

Thanks

Edited By Sam Longley 1 on 26/11/2016 17:44:29

Before I get a slap-- How do i post that as a ***link""" ?

That is dangerous. they are for parking the bike

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=y3nu5PkoyLc