Resolved Question

I need some advice, would this item get through customs?

I live in the UK and have had a shipment of legal smoking blends from the USA sent to me. It was sent USPS 1ST Class international. It was sent exactly one week ago today. All that is showing on the tracking page is "electronic shipping info recieved"
http://www.stamps.com/shipstatus/submit/… and the item I had sent was very similar to this http://www.legalherbalshop.com/catalog/p…
firstly...is this likely to make it through customs?
and secondly....does the fact that when I go to track the parcel and it only says "electronic shipping info recieved" mean my parcel is STILL in new jersey?? I have read from other customers that there will be other updates to come......how can it still be in new jersey unless its been held up by customs?? considering it was sent using the cheapest option, do tracking and updates even apply to me? I have been on the USPS website and it seems they do but I need to check this. Does anyone have any experience of using international mail?

Best Answer - Chosen by Voters

As I'm sure you are aware, UK HMRC imposes excessive Tobacco Tax ...

To discourage people legally importing from another EU country eg Spain etc. by post, they make a point of ripping open all the packages, examining the contents and illegally sticking you with 'excess duty' charges ...

Needless to say, packages containing smokes from countries outside the EU get even worse treatment (you get done both Duty and VAT)

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Resolved Question

Self employed accounts help pls!!?

i became self employed on sept 12th 08 should my accounts that i send to the inland revenue be from sept08 to sept 09 etc... or sept to april then april to april thereafter etc?? and can you send me a link to an online accounts form where it will calculate my incomings outgoings etc! arrgghhhhggg i duno wat im doing! helpp please!!!

Best Answer - Chosen by Asker

Other answers are not 100% correct. You can make your accounts up to whatever date you want. It is usual to make them up to a year after you start trading as otherwise how can you judge the true profitability of the business?
You do not send your accounts to HMRC, and the taxes enquiry centre will not help you complile your accounts - you just complete a self assessment. HMRC only ask to see your accounts if they are investigating you.
There is no online calculator for you - every business is different and you should be maintaining records as you go along of you income and expenditure as well as retaining all invoices and receipts.
Keep a simple cash book - either on paper or an Excel spreadsheet and make a new page for every month. That way you will be able to reconcile your bank account and keep track of your monthly income and expenditure.
If you e mail me I will happily send an example.
As others have said, the filing deadline is 31 Jan - if you at least make some sort of payment you will avoid a fine.

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• You should do them to April 09 but you have left it rather late now because you can only send them in online and before the end of the month. You need to register quickly because it usually takes seven days to get your account and pin. You may be able to get some help when you register but could be a problem due to the time involved.
  
  If you don't get them in before the end of Jan you could be fined £100.
  
  Register here
  http://www.direct.gov.uk/en/Diol1/DoItOnline/DG_4017846
  
  I don't know how big your business is but a good start would be to total your takings for that period and then make a total of your outgoings, rent, rates, electricity, purchases and other expenses that are connected to your business. Subtract this amount from your takings and you have your profit.
  
  These are just some of the basics to give you an idea. But don't delay.
  
  Bailey
  
  http://www.absales.info/CPAprofit

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• I would imagine that it should be from April to April as they will take into account any tax you have already paid. Your best option is to find your local tax office and make an appointment with them to work through what you need to do. You should take all of your paperwork with you, or at least make notes as to what they say about filling in the forms. The other alternative is to get an accountant who can do all of the calculations for you. You should do it quickly as January 31st is fast approaching and if you don't have it done and paid by then, you get fined.
  
  The link below is to the HMRC website where you can find your nearest office.

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Resolved Question

I want to Own/Lease a pub?

I know im only 18 and cant do this yet, but my dream is to own a pub or at least rent/lease one.
how would i be able to do this, im clueless i just know i'd love to do it, it would be my perfect job.
I guess i best start saving now? ha

Best Answer - Chosen by Asker

As "Away with the Fairies" says, the licenced trade is a lot of hard work over very long hours and the rewards are not huge. Provided you're prepared for that - 7 days a week with only Christmas Day and Easter Sunday off - there's a lot to learn.

Getting a job in a pub is a good start so that you see what goes on and what sort of situations you would have to manage.

You'll need your licence, both for yourself and for the premises you're managing or owning.

If you buy a freehold pub you have control over everything and any profit you make is yours. If you lease one, you're tied to the brewery's supplies, plus you have to pay them an amount every year for leasing it (£30k is not unusual or even more). That means that, although it's cheaper to buy a lease than a freehold, you've recurring expenses that have to come out of what you take before you start making a profit. If you manage a pub then you're on a salary the same as anyone in any other managerial post would be.

It's worth speaking to your local Business Link about what you'd like to do. They provide free help and advice on starting a business. They also have information on particular industries. They're very good on the food side of things, too, if that's something you'd want to include in your business. Some of the breweries - Everards and Greene King, for example, run courses about running a pub. I haven't checked but there's probably a fee for those.

Have a look at Fleurets web site for ideas of how much pubs cost to acquire as a bit more background information.

Good luck!

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• Approach a brewery and start with managing a pub for them. But are you sure you want to do that? It's a rotten job, long hours, little reward and a very declining business.

Resolved Question

I was ready to send an item I sold on eBay to a buyer but I got a message from PayPal saying that the?

payment was unauthorised. Therefore I didn't send the item (PayPal told me not to).
This happened on 5th December, so I didn't check the transaction again until today when the buyer sent a message asking what was keeping their item.
I've just checked the PayPal transaction and it says this: The funds that were placed on temporary hold are now available for use
I'm not sure what this means? Do I send the item and have I received the money?

Additional Details

Thanks for all answers. I find PayPal rather confusing!

2 days ago

Best Answer - Chosen by Asker

When you use paypal, if you are unauthorised you can only spend something like £500 before you have to authorise your account.
If the new message says the funds are now available then that means that they have paid you. Check your paypal balance to see if the funds are there. If they are then send the items.

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Other Answers (3)

• hi i take it you have a paypal account so go into your account and check to see if the money is in your account if so paypal should then say safe to post item temporary hold just means they tried to pay for the item but it did not happen for reasons that could be having to change the currency from one to the other or their bank card details were not up to date
  nothing to worry about

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• Agree with the 2 previous answers. Just to add that explaining the situation to the buyer may help you get better feedback!
• check your bank statment or go down to the bank and ask if the money was transferred in and if not then open an unpaid items case

Resolved Question

Does this ebay guy seem dodgy?

Im selling my cousins Xbox and 24 games. A guy messaged me asking if I can ship to poland. I said the cheapest postage I found is £70 which is expensive. I said if you can find a cheaper one then yes.

The bidding ended £35. The winning bidder has no feedback and messaged me saying he is the first guy that messaged me about poland. Can he have my address ino to arrange postage through DHL and he will make payment when I give him that info.

I looked on DHL and the cheapest is £127. surely someone wont pay that much postage for an old £35 x box.

Best Answer - Chosen by Asker

You have to cancel the transaction through the Ebay dispute process since buyer deceived you and you do not ship to Poland. Then you can get your insertion fee and final value fee credit back to you and re-list the item. It would be funny if it were not such a problem.

How is the buyer planning to pay? He can only pay with Paypal or Pro Pay, so your address is not needed in order to pay you. He automatically gets your email address when he pays with Paypal. You can tell him you will ship with Royal Mail or whoever quoted you 70 pounds but I am sure he won't want the cheaper one because he is trying to avoid paying until he gets the item or some other scam like hacking into your account. I have had all these problems.

Cancel the transaction is my advice unless he pays you with Paypal. Don't accept a bank draft.

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Other Answers (4)

• Okay - you don't really want to be selling to this guy.
  
  So lets see if he falls outside of your listing rules.
  
  Have you offered to ship outside the UK? If not, relist or offer to a 'second chance bidder'.
  
  Ok, if you did, did you specify postage rules & costs?
  
  If not, make him pay, and then ship, its his feurnal & his money.
  
  If so, and he falls outside of your listings 'rules', relist / second chance again.
  
  Is he attempting to ship to an 'unconfirmed paypal address', or even the address not held by EBay?
  
  If so...its a scam, run for your life.
  
  If not, charge away & ship.
• the whole point of ebay is that you are anon, if the guy ia wanting your details and wants to arrange postage direct I would stay away, seems dodgy for such a low proced item
• No way, someone is attempting to scam you. Sell it to 'game' or one of the other game shops
• Maybe he doesn't speak english.

Resolved Question

How to start voip business?

Best Answer - Chosen by Voters

Unless you have lots of capital to invest and a way of offering something more or unique to what's already out there, you won't stand a chance. Like he mentioned above, you are better off trying to do affiliate marketing for the big players out there than risk getting run over by the 'already well established' VOIP companies.

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• That is not such a simple answer.
  
  Whom do you want to target business, consumers, both? You know that you will be competeting against all the players in the market, Vonage, Skype, Comcast, etc. Maybe you should consider doing sales for an existing company...
  
  If you want to build a VOIP type business like the big ones mentioned above and have to ask how to... you might want to find a business that you know something about...
  
  You need a bit more information for your question to be answered.

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Resolved Question

Setting up a new business whilst im still employed...help needed?

Im thinking of starting a website based new business selling drawings and paintings. I am currently employed so will only be doing this in my spare time whilst not working. How do I go about starting uo the new business? Usually I believe you would have to register as self employed, but as im currently employed, what happens there? What taxes and costs are involved.....any help/advice would be greatly appreciated??

Best Answer - Chosen by Voters

Hi, it's perfectly ok, and very common, to be both self-employed and employed at the same time.

It's important to let HMRC know that you're self-employed as soon as possible. If you don't tell them within 3 months of starting your own business you may have to pay an initial penalty.

Once you're registered as self-employed, you'll receive a Self Assessment tax return to complete each year so that you can provide details of your earnings and any other income you get during the tax year (6 April to 5 April). This information is used to work out how much Income Tax you have to pay.

For tax on your income from employment you will still pay via the PAYE scheme which your employer does and NI the same.

Through self-employment you normally have to pay Class 2 National Insurance contributions - you pay Class 2 National Insurance contributions at a flat rate of £2.40 a week if your earnings are above £5,075 per year (2009-10) If you expect to earn less than £5,075 per year you can apply for a certificate of small earnings exception and not pay Class 2 National Insurance contributions. However, you might decide to carry on paying them voluntarily to keep your entitlement to the State Pension and other benefits
If your annual profits are over a certain amount you also pay Class 4 contributions. You pay 8 per cent on annual profits between £5,715 and £43,875 (2009-10) and 1 per cent on any profit over that amount. You work out your Class 4 National Insurance contributions on your tax return and pay them alongside your Income Tax.

All the information and more can be found at http://www.hmrc.gov.uk/working/intro/sel… there are also links to help you register as self-employed and details of the Newly Self-employed Helpline which can help you with any queries.

I hope this tells you what you wanted to know, and best of luck with your new business!
Rebecca

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Other Answers (3)

• There is a government organisation, business gateway, that can help you on your way, explaining what it means to be self-employed, or having a company, and what grants you can get from the government to help you set up (which is always nice).
  
  You can start here: http://www.bgateway.com (Scotland)
  
  or here: http://www.businesslink.gov.uk (England)
  
  Don't register yourself as self-employed just yet!! You will need to start paying your own NI, tax, etc. Totally premature if you ask me!
  
  Also: check your employment contract, many say you are forbidden from doing any other work outside of this job. If in doubt maybe you can ask your employer or manager in confidence if this would mean you are breaching your contract.
  
  HMRC also have some advice online, e.g. how does the finance and also the important tax and NIC side work if your self-employed: http://www.hmrc.gov.uk/startingup/index.…
  
  Good luck!

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• Starting a new business is great way to free your self from your boring job. Working for yourself gives great pleasure and satisfaction. But let me tell you that, this road is not easy for anyone. You have to really work hard. I can assure you that if you work hard and work in right direction, no one can stop you from getting success.
  You can check important book here.
  Shoestring Venture: The startup Bible
  http://www.shoestringventure.com/

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• You don't have to register as self employed immediately. As long as you register within 3 months of starting you're all right. That gives you a chance to find out if the business is going to take off. Otherwise, it's more of a hobby that makes you occasional bits of cash.
  
  Speak to your local Business Link about what you're planning to do. They provide free help and advice on starting. Inland Revenue also provide free seminars on all the tax and national insurance implications of working for yourself. You can also ask them questions on a 1-2-1 basis. There are exemptions from some of the NI contributions if you're not earning a lot from your business.
  
  We started our first business while we were still employed. You end up not devoting a lot of time to it and, depending on who your customers are, you're not always available when they want to speak to you.
  
  You may make more money from your drawings and paintings by attending craft fairs. Check out Oakleigh Fairs for listings of events for the coming year. It means that you're there for your customers when they want you to be there. We've not sold much art via our websites. They're good for people to get an idea of what you do but most like to see the pictures for real before they buy. Poster sales or prints of names like Jack Vetteriano work on-line but lesser known artists have to work a lot harder.
  
  Good luck!

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