IFA wants to increase charge on existing pension

ian16527

When I worked for a large US company in the UK, we had to undergo training every year regarding accepting gifts etc and you had to fill in  a questionnaire as well stating if you worked in the past for any supplier. They were red hot on it.

bjorn_toby_wilde

ian16527 said:

When I worked for a large US company in the UK, we had to undergo training every year regarding accepting gifts etc and you had to fill in  a questionnaire as well stating if you worked in the past for any supplier. They were red hot on it.

Me too. The Foreign Corrupt Practices Act. I remember it very well.  Annual quizzes and certification coupled with the threat of time in a US jail for bribing officials in a foreign country.

Sarahspangles

ian16527 said:

When I worked for a large US company in the UK, we had to undergo training every year regarding accepting gifts etc and you had to fill in  a questionnaire as well stating if you worked in the past for any supplier. They were red hot on it.

It’s the same in the public sector. I don’t think I’ve gone three years without a refresher. In procurement organisations it’s annual but they often lump in some internal governance updates. I also have to complete three declarations of interest a year (two jobs, and a Trusteeship)

thriftytracey

Coming to this late in the day but I have a RL drawdown policy and I dispensed with IFA ongoing fee (around £1500) a couple of years in.  I can monitor the value online and have taken two payments from the TFLS with no difficulty, in my account a few days later.  I didn't have any spare cash for further investment advice and got a few pages annual booklet once a year which told me nothing I could have found out online.  I manage to save enough each year to add to my pension the maximum allowed and this is done with minimal administration.

Hoenir

Albermarle said:

kinger101 said:

cfw1994 said:

wjr4 said:

IFAs rarely take people out to lunch now, I find the idea of that very outdated. If you don’t understand that you’re paying the annual fee for, question it.

It’s evening meal overnight in the Cotswolds for my pal….SJP still have cash to splash, it appears 🫣

And no corporate governance procedures it seems be we knew that already.

It will come back to haunt them.  

 However is it was a meal related to business i.e. with a customer or supplier, then you can claim the VAT back ( or more correctly your employer can ) .

The expense isn't offsetable against corporation tax though. Nor is VAT is not reclaimable on entertaining. 

Always was interesting to be party to payroll audits by the HMRC. We used to call it 50 questions at the outset.  All had the answer yes or no. If the client said no, then was found subsequently to be lying. Would be an automatic penalty on top of whatever the tax liability was. 

Albermarle

Hoenir said:

Albermarle said:

kinger101 said:

cfw1994 said:

wjr4 said:

IFAs rarely take people out to lunch now, I find the idea of that very outdated. If you don’t understand that you’re paying the annual fee for, question it.

It’s evening meal overnight in the Cotswolds for my pal….SJP still have cash to splash, it appears 🫣

And no corporate governance procedures it seems be we knew that already.

It will come back to haunt them.  

 However is it was a meal related to business i.e. with a customer or supplier, then you can claim the VAT back ( or more correctly your employer can ) .

The expense isn't offsetable against corporation tax though. Nor is VAT is not reclaimable on entertaining. 

Always was interesting to be party to payroll audits by the HMRC. We used to call it 50 questions at the outset.  All had the answer yes or no. If the client said no, then was found subsequently to be lying. Would be an automatic penalty on top of whatever the tax liability was. 

I worked for a huge company that was very hot on these things.
I remember clearly when doing my expenses that I had to split out meals ( for example) bought for customers, and meals bought for staff ( for example if staying in a hotel together) , because VAT was reclaimable on one but not the other.
However  I may have it the wrong way around.
In that you can claim VAT back on staff 'entertaining' ( within reason)  but not customer entertaining ( unless they are foreigners apparently) 

incus432

Sarahspangles said:

ian16527 said:

When I worked for a large US company in the UK, we had to undergo training every year regarding accepting gifts etc and you had to fill in  a questionnaire as well stating if you worked in the past for any supplier. They were red hot on it.

It’s the same in the public sector. I don’t think I’ve gone three years without a refresher. In procurement organisations it’s annual but they often lump in some internal governance updates. I also have to complete three declarations of interest a year (two jobs, and a Trusteeship)

Precisely. I worked in the NHS and other public sector orgs for 30 years and anything that could be construed as gifts, free meals, etc was completely outwith the rules, even if some consultants did get away with accepting golf holidays funded by drug companies