Robert Lloyd - a Sir Gar Blog of random news . . . and some Clecs!

The latest Clay Shaw Butler Money Matters column from the Carmarthenshire Herald. By Mark Jones, director of Carmarthen-based Clay Shaw Butler chartered accountants and business consultants. HMRC have revealed their Top 10 most significant fraud and organised crime cases of the last year. Simon York, Director of HMRC’s Fraud Investigation Service, said: “Day in, day out, HMRC is coming down hard on tax cheats. “As these cases show, we’ll tackle anyone committing tax fraud, regardless of how well resourced, well advised, or well organised. “These 10 prosecutions are among the most significant cases we’ve handled this year, and they reflect the wide range of work carried out by HMRC.” In the ongoing fight against tax evasion, HMRC took a range of tax fraudsters through the courts in 2016 for prosecution. HMRC’s criminal investigations have led to 679 individuals being convicted for their part in tax crimes, with sentences for 2016 totalling more than 730 years. Many of the cases won ...

The latest Phil Evans column from the South Wales Evening Post. Comedian Phil Evans is from Ammanford. He is known as the man who puts the ‘cwtsh’ into comedy. www.philevans.co.uk ................................ What age is it? This world has struggled through many different Ages. Millions of years ago we had the Ice Age, followed by (wearing a bearskin and thermal boxer shorts) the Stone Age, which was replaced by the Iron Age. The 18th Century was referred to as The Age Of Enlightenment because of advances in politics, philosophy, science and communications across Europe. That seems a very long time ago. Today, as I look at what’s happening everywhere from the White House to Downing Street to my street, I get the feeling that The Age Of Enlightenment has been replaced by The Age Of Stupid. Where to begin? Some time ago I wrote about the idiotic trend for grown men to wear shorts all year round, even when the temperature’s below freezing. What gets into them? Apart from hypo-therm...

The latest Phil Evans column from the South Wales Evening Post. Comedian Phil Evans is from Ammanford. He is known as the man who puts the ‘cwtsh’ into comedy. www.philevans.co.uk ------------------------------------------ Mysteriously disappeared: To find new material, comedians and comedy writers constantly view the world from a different vantage point to most people. We step back and observe people’s peculiarities, quirks and attitudes. Then, through hours of concentration, inspiration and perspiration, we turn our observations into routines. The only way to tell whether they’re comedy gold or unfunny, self-indulgence is to perform them in front of an audience. Scary! And you thought being a comedian was easy. One major side-effect of constantly being an ‘outside observer’ is that it opens your eyes to things going on around you that other people have missed. For example, I bet you didn’t know that several years ago, while we all slept, the (relatively) sane world we grew up in m...

The latest Clay Shaw Butler Money Matters column from the Carmarthenshire Herald. By Mark Jones, director of Carmarthen-based Clay Shaw Butler chartered accountants and business consultants. The taxman at HMRC is advising employers that their employees may benefit from accessing their Personal Tax Account. These accounts allow taxpayers to view information about their tax affairs and advise HMRC online about changes that may affect the tax they pay. The services available through the Personal Tax Account include: checking income tax estimates and tax codes  advising HMRC about changes affecting company cars  using the online forms available to claim tax deductible work expenses or a tax refund  checking the expected level of their state pension  renewing tax credits  advising HMRC of a change of address.  In a recent development, the system for registering for this service has been revised and it is now possible to register using your National Ins...

The latest Clay Shaw Butler Money Matters column from the Carmarthenshire Herald. By Mark Jones, director of Carmarthen-based Clay Shaw Butler chartered accountants and business consultants. The Chartered Trading Standards Institute (CTSI) has called for banks and charities to take greater responsibility for those who may be vulnerable to scams. The CTSI commissioned a report from Bournemouth University’s National Centre for Post Qualifying Social Work into scam victims, and its recommendations to financial institutions and charities include: recognising their duty of care to dementia sufferers who could make an ‘unwise decision’ as a result of their cognitive state  allowing vulnerable people to put a 24 hour delay on new or large transactions from leaving their bank accounts and sending an email or text alerting a carer or loved one at the start of that period  adopting a default that personal data is not shared without a clear opt in and that it is not held for longer ...

The latest Phil Evans column from the South Wales Evening Post. Comedian Phil Evans is from Ammanford. He is known as the man who puts the ‘cwtsh’ into comedy. www.philevans.co.uk -------------------- HOOKED-ON CARAVANS? NOT ME! As I’ve grown older and wider...err...wiser, I’ve been able to answer many questions that once baffled me, such as . . . “Why do birds suddenly appear, every time you are near?” The answer is now blindingly obvious. It’s because your pockets are full of birdseed. And . . . “If a picture paints a thousand words, why can’t I paint you?” Because I failed my G.C.S.E. in Art. But some things still have me scratching my head, apart from dandruff. The most vexing question of all being . . . what is the strange madness that insidiously persuades a normal person to purchase a touring caravan? I just don’t get it. They take over your driveway and have to be hooked-up to your car so you can head off to a faraway campsite where you can sleep in a smaller, cramped versio...