- The Guardian,
- Saturday January 22 2000
Once the form is in and the tax year 1998-99 just an unpleasant memory, the financially prudent will already be at their desks working out how to save as much money as possible in the next one. There is no better way to take advantage of available tax allowances, and make the most of opportunities to offset one liability against another, than to start tax planning at the beginning of the new financial year. The later it is left, the more inefficient the planning will be, so to help such wise men and women this week Jobs & Money offers a guide to tax planning services on the world wide web.
A quest for such sites reveals that there is still much to be done for the financial planning industry. Typing the words "financial planning UK" into a search engine will unearth a multitude of websites set up by financial advisers of all kinds that are little more than electronic shop windows. Among the names that might appear are Perkins & Co, Money Wise, John Russell, Morganston.com and Wrotham. These are firms that offer tax planning as part of their advisory services and made the first step to joining the internet revolution by touting their wares on the web.
All of the companies mentioned have pasted an online inquiry form on to their sites which allows the user to dispatch an inquiry concerning their personal tax situation to the firm which will supply an answer to their specific questions.
Of those referred to above, Money Wise is the most comprehensive with a dedicated page for investments, pensions, life assurance and mortgages but nothing devoted specifically to tax in its own right.
Each page carries a form on which the user can fill in details to build up a brief profile of their circumstances. The forms ask for a daytime contact number on which one of Money Wise's advisers can call back.
More sophisticated - in interactive terms - is the site at www.moneyweb.co.uk This is a clear and extensive website with explanations of a broad range of tax subjects. It breaks the material down into three basic components: income tax, capital gains tax and inheritance tax. It also has a page entitled "Essays and external tax links", although when the user clicks on this the only link provided is to the inland revenue's own web pages. These are useful for those still dashing to complete self-assessment forms but of little use for advance tax planning.
Each of the subject pages, however, contains links to subtopics and technical terms for users who want fuller explanations.
The income-tax page, for example, leads to a non-taxable income section which has details on annuities, National Savings certificates and tax-exempt special savings accounts, among others. The site offers plenty of plain, sensible advice and takes a light-hearted approach.
The section on the tax status of wedding presents, for example, counsels that marrying the boss's daughter is not a good way to try to get payments passed tax-free.
There are a limited number of sites that offer a truly interactive online service. Firms such as Asset Financial Management and Philip Wallington advertise that their online products are still under construction.
Slightly further down this line is Axatax, which specialises in individuals and family- or owner-managed businesses and charges up to £150 for tax planning queries.
Users must fill in an online form with an outline of their problem, in return for which Axatax will return a quotation for their services. The option to contact an individual at the company is also included, though somewhat undermining the company's apparent confidence in its online services.
A site already reviewed by Jobs & Money is www.virtuallyanywhere.co.uk through which the deTAX service is available.
This is run by a group of former tax inspectors who aim to cut back some of the claimed £6.58bn - enough to buy every adult in Britain a Big Mac meal every week for nearly a year - that was wasted on unnecessary tax in 1997-98. That means a potential saving of £180 a person if the group lives up to its word.
A final alternative is to order specialist tax planning software from manufacturers such as Microsoft or Optio. Details are available on the companies' websites for which addresses are given below:
www.assetfm.co.uk
www.bezeb.co.uk/axatax
www.inlandrevenue.gov.uk
www.optio.co.uk
www.moneyweb.co.uk
www.perkins.co.mcmail.com
www.virtuallyanywhere.co.uk
