The hidden assets that can reduce your tax bill – and see your business thrive in the recession…
As the last two years have evidenced, times of recession are a genuine struggle for most people.
Many lose their jobs, some even their homes – and in order to replace lost income many are forced to seek additional work opportunities or resort to selling possessions. Some even fall back on the last resort; delving deep into the back of the sofa in search of money that has fallen into its recesses over the years.
For one family in particular, this last gasp strategy produced amazing results. The Kober family, of Niagra Falls, had a family heirloom stored behind their sofa for 25 years. The family presumed it was a largely Investigate someone worthless copy of a Michelangelo, but tests revealed it to be a lost masterpiece – “The Lost Pieta” – worth a staggering £140m.
Sadly, there’s no such luck for business owners, whose attempts to save money can often perpetuate the downturn. For when one company reduces its outgoings, other firms suffer the knock-on effect – leading to a domino-type collapse.
To make matters worse, struggling businesses still face large corporation tax bills based on the previous (more profitable) trading year.
But it’s not all doom and gloom. Indeed, the mindset of a successful entrepreneur sees recession as an opportunity to make more money and get even richer. How do they do it? Simply by backing the most reliable investment they know – their own business. After all, why place your money under the control and direction of others (by gambling on the stock market, for example) when you have the opportunity to personally influence the growth of your investment?
Look for hidden assets… To help your business survive (and even thrive) in difficult times, look for hidden assets within your company; in many cases they are there, waiting to be found.
Of course, it helps if you know what to look for – and that you possess the skill or knowledge to extract the assets you find. Hidden assets should be sold, with the money used to pay down debt, or fuel the growth of the business. It’s unlikely that you will find a lost masterpiece worth £140m in your business – but you would be surprised at just how many businesses can improve the balance sheet by £70,000 to £100,000 using this process.
What’s more, the re-location or sale of the assets can reduce company tax, including corporation tax, and improve the financial planning of the business. Now, none of that will make the headlines as much as the discovery of a missing Michelangelo – but it could mean the difference between going under and staying comfortably afloat.