With MARK GREWER, left, of Hunter Gee Holroyd, Club Chambers, Museum Street, York, phone 01904 655202.

WE HAVE just passed the deadline for submitting the annual P1ID "benefit in kind" form to the Inland Revenue.

However, now is a good time to start planning for the benefits that are to be provided to employees.

If you provide company cars, you may want to check whether you and your employees could be better off by changing your company car and petrol policy.

The last 24 months have seen dramatic changes to the way company cars are taxed. Inevitably, the tax on most types of cars is now higher - especially for cars with CO2 emissions. So this could be an area well worth looking at again.

Are you aware of changes coming up for employees taking home company vans? From April 6, 2005, employees who have to take home the company van and for whom other private use is forbidden, will not be charged tax.

Where private use is unrestricted, the £500 or £350 scale charge will apply, dependant upon the age of the van. From next April, unrestricted private use will generate a benefit in kind chargeable to tax of £3,000 per annum, with an additional £500 chargeable if fuel is also provided,

The provision of benefits can be viewed as a perk and a help in employee retention. Simple tax-free benefits can be provided such as:

Mobile telephones

Loan of computers

Allowing team members to use pool cars

Providing company bicycles

So act now to review the efficiency of your employees' remuneration packages.

I hope that over the last month you have decided on what your vision is for the next five years. The next stage is to develop the specific objectives that will help you to attain that vision.

For example within that vision you may have stated that you wanted 1,000 customers. You have 750 now so how are the extra 250 to be acquired?

One objective, therefore, is to increase your customer number by 50 per year.

The objectives are derived directly from your vision statement.

Updated: 09:05 Tuesday, July 27, 2004