Useful places
Some of the sites we use regularly.
HM Revenue & Customs all things tax, National Insurance & VAT
Department for Business Innovation & Skills (BERR as was, DTI before that) for surprisingly useful business advice
Oanda for currency conversion - and the BigMac index.
Companies House for basic company info.
The AA for car and travel stuff.
Northcote Data for those missing dividends
H M Revenue & Customs
The new combined department has a new web site. Or, to be more accurate, it has cobbled together the two old sites.
It is still, whatever they say, two separate departments. And the it shows in the way information is presented. The new main page is at www.hmrc.gov.uk
HMRC does try very hard to provide help and information, but you probably do need to have some idea of what you're looking for before you start.
However, Revenue leaflets are generally well written, and are a good introduction to a topic. If you feel brave, the text of many of the Revenue's own guidance manuals are also available (except for some sensitive bits). But they are not for the fainthearted. And painfully slow on-line. If you want a search done, we have them all on disk.
A starting point for leaflets.
The "starting in business" section is very detailed - but shows its teeth. Register - or get penalised!
VAT
If you want VAT leaflets, HMRC is the place. But with VAT, above all else, take great care. It is not a logical tax. And the answer to nearly every "simple" VAT query is "It depends...".
Department for Business Innovation & Skills
This massive site is stuffed with goodies. And comparatively easy to use. Excellent on rules and regulations, and probably the first place to look for anything to do with business. There's also a spin-off Small Business site.
If you want a model employment contract, its here. If you want to know about holiday entitlement for part-timers, it gives chapter and verse. (Briefly, part-timers are entitled to paid holiday.)
www.bis.gov.uk for the main site
www.businesslink.gov.uk/ for the Small Business off-shoot
Businesslink has guidance for "contracts of employment" at Statement of Terms and Conditions of Employment
and guidance on holiday pay, and more, under Working Time Regulation.
OandA
Not the most intuitive web address - but probably the best Currency exchange site around. Current and historic rates are at www.oanda.com/convert/classic
There is also an index based on the relative international prices of BigMacs...at www.oanda.com/products/bigmac/bigmac.shtml although this is a now out of date repeat of The Economist original.
Companies House
You can get brief details of Limited Companies for free. This will at least tell you if a company is behind with its accounts. More detailed searches are also very cheap- but are often disappointing. The cut-down version of the accounts that "small" companies file reveal next to nothing. You can also search for disqualified directors, and there are links to sites where you can see if your killer web address is still available.
For some bizarre reason, the free information is not available between midnight and 7 am. (Why? Do the Civil Servants book the computer for multiple user games sessions...?)
There are also, of course, the usual range of helpful leaflets.
The AA
Yes, it really does cost that much to run a car. Console yourself with a holiday - routes and hotels available.
Northcote Data
We use this site to fill in the gaps in clients' tax returns - missing dividend vouchers, wrong dates... but it also gives masses of data on UK companies. (And you could always use it yourself if you've misplaced a voucher...)