Tax shouldn't have to be taxing

I have my first Self Assessment to complete this year. You know the adverts; Adam Wotsit the super science TV presenter sliding through an hourglass meant to demonstrate how insignificant you are to the tax office, you being one of those millions of grains of sand... or something like that. Or maybe Moira Stewart hiding in the cupboard under your stairs letting you know that if you are late you get fined £100 (Forgetting to tell you that you have to have paid the £100 by the same deadline otherwise you also get charged interest on it... surely if you remember to pay the fine on time, you might as well do the form?)

Anyway... so come mid-December I dutifully go online ready to complete my tax return:

STEP 1 - Register
Enter your name (maybe this is easy after all?), Enter your email address. Repeat your email address (whoop! passed that test) and enter your... unique tax reference code. Ah... erm... what's that then? Oh I know, I have a National Insurance Number, that is unique to me and enables them to take money off me, must be that. No.

So you have to telephone the online self assessment tax helpdesk. Who then tell you they can't help you with this and you need to phone your tax office. So you phone your tax office:

ME: (after all the prove it's you questions) Hello, I need my Unique Tax Reference Code.
HMRC: I can't tell you that.
ME: But it's my unique tax reference code
HMRC: Yes, but I can't tell you over the phone, I'll have to post it to you.
ME: But I need to fill out my self assessment form online. Actually I need to register to fill out my self assessment form online
HMRC: Well you should have your UTR code in 7 days time.

Not quite as easy as you make out, is it Moira?

So I get my code, and Christmas comes and goes and back in the office again and sorting the filing and need to do all those things on my to-do list and... ok, I give in, I'll tackle the self assessment.

STEP 1 - Register
Enter your name (maybe this is easy after all?), Enter your email address. Repeat your email address (whoop! passed that test) and enter your... unique tax reference code. Ah that's the code thingy they sent me, tap tap tap. Registered!

Now I can do my self assessment? Well actually no. You have registered, yes, but now you need to enrol.

STEP 2 - Enrol
Enter your Unique Tax Reference code, brilliant, got that. Enter your National Insurance number, brilliant got that... submit.

I'm sorry that's incorrect please try again

It's not incorrect, it's what you sent me. This information seems to be sufficient enough for you to take money from me, how come I can't even make it through registration, sorry, enrollment.

STEP 2 - TAKE 2 - Enrol
Enter your Unique Tax Reference code, brilliant, got that. Enter your postcode this time as the National Insurance number didn't work, brilliant got that... submit.

I'm sorry your postcode is incorrect

It's not. Seriously, I'm quite confident I know where I live.

Please telephone the online helpdesk

Hmm, de ja vu. Either that or I've seen all this before.

ME: I'm trying to register, sorry, enrol for my self assessment but it says my NI number and postcode are incorrect
HMRC: What are putting in?
ME: [personally identifiable information]
HMRC: That's the wrong postcode.
ME: No it's not, it's where I live
HMRC: Yes that is where you live (thank you), but we have a different postcode for you on this system
ME (Hazarding a guess): Is it where I used to live?
HMRC: Yes

Brilliant. So now having passed the registration hurdle, and waiting for my unique tax reference code to be sent to me, having managed to negotiate the enrolment test and passed by using out of date information about myself, can I now please complete my self assessment?

Congratulations no your enrolment. You now need to activate your account. We have posted you an activation code which may take 7 days to reach you

Moira... you and me need to have words.

Rye Harbour

Went down to Rye Harbour today for lunch and a brisk walk. Lovely day but really really cold! Had lunch at the local pub 'William the Conqueror' best fish in batter I've ever eaten, cold pub though... we had to sit next to the open fire.

After lunch, we walked up the tarmac (and dog turd covered) path up to the sea. Gorgeous walk, but it was absolutely freezing and by this point, hands ears and face were numb. With the windchill it was even worse on the way back.

Nice day out, but took a long time to thaw out in the car with the heaters on. Would thoroughly recommend Rye Harbour as a day trip out with a dog to walk

Corporate Social Responsibility in Sponsorship

Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) or Corporate Responsibility (CR) not be confused with Cause Related Marketing (CRM)... It's got many names and many definitions, and that's just the problem, it means different things to different people and therefore execution of Socially Responsible (SR) Sponsorship can be deemed a failure by a consumer whose interpretation differs from those who activated it. It's enough to make you join the CAAG

I've just listened to a conference on Corporate Responsibility and a lot of it was good to hear, but I think the big picture has been missed!

Corporate Responsibility is about being responsible. FULL STOP. Responsible to your staff, responsible to your customers, responsible to the/your environment, responsible to (do I dare say it) your shareholders... to the business itself.

Greenwash is a popular term used to describe talking about being environmentally friendly whilst not actually doing anything, it means to paint over a non-environmentally friendly policy or business etc. portraying one which is "green". I think most talk about Corporate Responsibility is exactly that... C(S)Rwash.

Everyone talks about how they spend their money in a responsible way... knock knock... hello?... anyone there?... it's not about how you spend your money, its about how you MAKE your money.

Have you made your money in a responsible way? Every decision made should have an appropriate level of "is this decision responsible to [insert as appropriate]". Look at Honda and specifically a conference speech by David Butler. Honda thinks about responsibility from the bottom up, not just in the PR department; what light bulbs do we use in our factories? Where is our electricity sourced from? What percentage of our waste goes to landfill? What transport do the staff use to get to work? What paper are the press releases printed on?

You can't do everything in a positive way, some decisions have to be made for the good and longevity of a business and outcomes can easily be criticised in parts, if not as a whole. BUT you should be using an appropriate level of responsibility in every decision you make.

That is what Corporate Responsibility is.

It's that Friday Feeling

Oh you know it's going to be a good day when you wake up and it's dark and murky with a drizzle of rain thrown in (down the back of your collar)

Made it to the station in time to catch my train to London only to find the first seat I try has a broken armrest and the second seat, although not visibly broken, turns out to have an idiot installed opposite.

For the next 1 hour 40 minutes the idiot tap dances on my feet, knocks my knees and stands on the top of my shoes gradually increasing pressure and then releasing again.

During all this time he is sifting through a bag of leaflets their 'wedding planner' has given them. Now I'm no expert on wedding planners, but I am the publisher of an online wedding magazine so weddings and their components are not exactly a foreign language to me, BUT SURELY the idea of a having a wedding planner is so that you don't have to sift through all of the leaflets, you don't have to choose between suppliers. SURELY you discuss the ideas you have with the knowledge they have and then they go off and source the suppliers for you to match the desired objectives whilst adhering to your budget.

So whilst puzzling this 3rd party irritation, playing 'name that tune' as it's drummed into my metatarsal, and generally trying to sleep... the idiot decides to phone the fiancée to have an inane conversation over whether he should be looking at the 'groom's pack' he's been given without her?

Now I know mobile phone conversations on trains can be quite annoying in general but at least some are for a purpose, an emergency, or are unavoidable. But Idiot did as Idiots do and proceeded to have one of those "go on, you agree, no I'll agree, no don't disagree, oh I agree" in the style of a "love you more... no, love you more..." drivel drivel drivel

Roll on Saturday

Sponsorship Association of Asia

Just finished setting up the new website for the Sponsorship Association of Asia. Built in Drupal 6 and utilising various existing modules to create a community based website offering a directory of organisations involved in sponsorship in Asia, an Event Calendar and sponsorship news.

Google Chrome

Just tried the new Google Chrome browser now. It is very fast and clean.... But one of the things I like about using firefox or the flock browser is that I have all the other stuff going on as well. I use firebug to check my websites, the flock email tool which shows if I have new emails, the flock facebook and twitter bar etc.

A useful tool, but not sure it will be my main browser... Unless it means my work rate goes up :)

Blogtastic

Have found a renewed sense of enjoyment in core social media this morning, thanks to my friend Suse in the City who had me laughing out loud as I could relate to her post on the PR Agency and Editor relationship.

So here it is... my mid year resolution. I will blog more. er... When relevant. Well... when I can. If I get a chance. If I haven't broken the internet first. Dammit I can see this plan failing already.

Victorian House Blog

Just launched a new Victorian House blog related to the Victorian house we are buying