Dr. Zaki Kanaan Receives Multiple Recognitions in 2011.

2011 proved to be a memorable year for Dr. Zaki Kanaan, during which, he was honoured by his peers on four separate occasions.

At the beginning of the year he was elected President of The London Dental Fellowship. Membership of this highly respected group, is by invitation only when a vacancy occurs.

He was then elected Vice-President of the British Academy of Cosmetic Dentistry (BACD) in addition to his role as Scientific Director.

Later in the year he was invited to join the Admissions Panel for Guy’s, King’s and St. Thomas’ Dental Institutes, which interviews potential students for both the undergraduate and graduate programmes.

Finally, on New Year’s Eve, Zaki discovered he had been voted into second place in the UK poll of Private Dentistry’s Elite 20 Dentists.

‘It was gratifying to be short listed, but to come second is a real honour,’ says Zaki, ‘especially knowing that you can only be voted for by your peers and others in the dental profession.’

Zaki also runs an award-winning practice and popular whitening courses, the K2 Dental and K2 Dental Seminars, with his wife Dominique.

Dr. Zaki Kanaan is one of the BACD Board Members lecturing on the BACD/BDTA Roadshow. For further details please visit www.bacd.com.

He will also be lecturing at the BDA conference in April 2012.

With effect from 6 April 2012 the lifetime allowance for pension benefits will reduce from £1.8 million to £1.5 million. This is the maximum anyone can have without paying an additional tax charge. (NB the tax rate is 55% on any excess above the £1.5 million new limit!).

However, an individual pension investor can protect the current £1.8 million lifetime allowance, but only if they apply to do this before 6 April 2012 and pay no further contribution into any pension scheme after that.

The annual allowance for pension contributions reduced from £255,000 to £50,000 on 6 April 2011. So if your annual contributions to pension arrangements, including any from an employer, are more than this, then you could be liable to further tax charges.

The financial planning issues involved here are potentially complex depending upon individual circumstances. For example, membership of the NHS Pension Scheme and the amount of fund therein will need to be assessed carefully when looking at both the lifetime allowance and annual allowance.

There are tax planning and tax savings opportunities based around these legislative changes, but as is the case in respect of applying for fixed protection, time is of the essence and action is potentially required before 5 April 2012.

If you feel that this may be an issue for you then I would urge you to urgently contact your appointed Independent Financial Adviser (IFA) or revert to us immediately if you require a recommendation.

What a challenging and busy year 2011 has been and as it would seem every year, the Christmas Season is now upon us.

DBS will be closing at 12 noon on Friday 23 December 2011 and the office will re-open on Tuesday 3 January 2012.

We would like to take this opportunity to wish you all a very Merry Christmas and a happy and prosperous New Year.

The Tax Health Plan (THP) was one of the first targeted tax disclosure opportunities. It was aimed at doctors and dentists with miscellaneous sources of income such as from writing medical insurance reports, working as a locum, or for signing certain certificates. Taxpayers who opted to use the THP were required to make a full disclosure and pay all tax, penalties and interest due by 30 June 2010.

HMRC have used their powers to obtain lists of payments made to medical practitioners from pharmaceutical companies, insurance companies and locum agencies. As a DBS client, we expect you have told us about these sources of income which we will have included within your accounts as ‘other income’. This may not be evident to HMRC but once we point this out to them the enquiry should be closed swiftly.

HMRC are now confident they have processed all the disclosures from the THP and are now writing to over 2,500 doctors and dentists who did not take advantage of the THP, but who HMRC believe received some untaxed income. If you receive one of these letters, please let us know straight away. We will have 21 days to reply to HMRC (if you do not respond to HMRC within this time scale, HMRC can either amend your self-assessment tax return if the enquiry window is still open, or issue what is known as a discovery assessment for the amount of tax HMRC think is owed to the Treasury).

The Tax Catch Up Plan

Another HMRC disclosure campaign which could affect you is the Tax Catch Up Plan for tutors and coaches (TCUP), designed to flush out undeclared income from self-employed tutoring or coaching. Again, HMRC have used their powers to obtain lists of payments made to tutors by education and training providers and we expect DBS clients will have told us about these sources of income for disclosure, either within your accounts or separately within your tax return form.

You still have time to disclose untaxed income from lecturing or tutoring if you have not already done so, by making a declaration of the intention to disclose before 6 January 2012, followed by full disclosure and payment of all tax due by 31 March 2012. The advantage to doing so will be a reduction in the penalties for non-disclosure.

To head off a potential enquiry, we recommend that clients who receive untaxed lecturing or tutoring income which we are already recording within the accounts and tax return should note on the tax return form pointing this out to HMRC.

Please contact Penny Bowen with any questions you may have.

Tax assistant

We are keen to find an enthusiastic and experienced individual to join our tax department.

Applicants should have:

• HMRC full technical or core professional training
• Tax and/or accountancy qualification (CTA/ACA/ACCA/ATT)
• Competent IT and Microsoft capabilities
• Previous experience with Iris and QuickBooks packages
• Strong communication skills
• Ability to work to deadlines
• A proactive nature
• An adaptable and hands on approach
• The drive to take ownership of issues
• Meticulous eye for detail.

This role offers:

• 36.5 hours per week, Monday to Friday
• Ideally permanent role (temp to perm considered)
• Competitive salary
• Established accountancy firm for over 30 years
• 28 days statutory holiday
• Comfortable office location
• Further job related training considered

Please complete the contact form and upload your CV and covering letter below, please be sure to complete all four contact forms.

STRICTLY NO AGENCIES

You may own only one practice during your career, although you may own a number. Irrespective it is only right and proper to maximize the capital value of each particular practice as you should and would with any other major asset, eg your domestic property. This may sound obvious, but in my experience far too many dentists come to a sudden realization that they would now like to sell their practice asset. This may be worth many hundreds of thousands of pounds but often such principals are ill-prepared to maximize its worth.

This lack of planning may result in you selling your practice for a substantially lower figure than its potential value, possibly to the wrong acquirer, and perhaps even at the wrong time. What I would suggest is that you should draw up a plan for disposal five years in advance of the date that you wish to complete the transaction.

When a principal buys their first practice the focus is not generally on when the practice will be sold, more the immediate requirement of taking ownership and dealing with all the issues that a dental principal has to face.

Over your working life you will no doubt have viewed your practice as a capital asset which will be sold one day, the initial focus, is and must be the performance and continuous development of the practice which provides you and your dependants with sufficient income. However, in due course, if you carefully plan your eventual disposal you will have the opportunity; to not only increase the capital value of the practice but also to earn more income in the years prior to that sale.

One of the first steps is to take a long, hard honest look at your practice and draw up a list of areas for improvement. Perhaps the practice should be redecorated and/or refurbished or there are various minor repairs that you have been putting off. If the practice has a garden then has it been regularly maintained or does it deserve a makeover? Often there is some reluctance to spending money on these things as the seller thinks that they will not get their money back, but these areas are likely to be relatively cheap and will not only provide a more pleasant working environment and patient experience but will help ensure a smoother and more profitable sale.

The five year plan should ensure that this final period of practice ownership allows legitimate maximization of income from the practice, which of itself will improve the asset value on sale. One particular approach is to set a benchmark of income generated by each fee-based clinician within the practice as to their current performance, with a view to increasing individual gross fee generation year after year. I can assure you such an approach is not only highly motivating to the individual but also works as far as overall practice performance is concerned.

Your patient base is of course the essential part of the Goodwill of your practice, and in most Business Sale Agreements the Goodwill is the largest part of the overall practice value. You may decide to carry out a detailed demographic analysis of your current patient base and decide whether you need to develop a revised marketing plan to attract new patients to the practice. In terms of marketing generally, it is now accepted that all practices, without exception, must have a practice website which is regularly updated. In the age of the internet no website means zero credibility as far as prospective patients are concerned.

One key essential in your planned sale is a strong dialogue with your accountant. Not only can they help you set the income targets for each provider and monitor them over time; they will also give you an objective view about the process which should be invaluable.

In respect of your prospective acquirer, the three most likely buyers will be:

1. Dental corporate group
2. Dental associate or associates currently working in your practice
3. A dentist or number of dentists not previously working in your practice.

Most dental corporate groups have been more interested in multiple surgery practices and therefore if you are of a smaller size this option may not be open to you. However, there still remains a significant number of individual dentists who would wish to buy a smaller practice. As the banks are more able to support a smaller acquisition, there continues to be a strong market for practices of such size. In the main, corporate bodies are not overenthusiastic to buy freehold property but there are other investment companies who wish to buy such property: if your retirement requirement is to maximize capital value from all your business assets, the sale of your practice to a corporate and the property to a separate organization should be achievable.

One of the great virtues of an associate or associates currently working within your practice to buy is that they know exactly what they are taking on. It is easier for such individuals to understand the nuances of that particular practice compared to an external acquirer who has a much bigger learning curve in that regard.

Irrespective of who is the actual acquirer, there will be a significant amount of information to be provided to satisfy the accountants, lawyers and bankers who may be involved in the transaction. It is fundamental in the current market place that annual financial accounts and monthly management information are right up-to-date. Once again this an area in which the role of your accountant is fundamental to assist the sale process.

Recent developments, eg the Care Quality Commission, compliance with HTM 01-05, Information Governance, etc have a major impact in terms of the overall requirement of the disposal process. These important areas need to be dealt with at an early stage for the satisfaction of both vendor and purchaser.

Once the whole process is complete, your practice has been sold and the proceeds are now residing safely on deposit in your bank account of choice. At his point you must have a strategy as to what to do with the sale proceeds, and perhaps more importantly, what will happen to your life now that you are no longer the practice principal. This can be a tricky area for the previous practice owner if they have not prepared carefully for the new reality. Many ex-principal dentists go on working far longer as part time, mature associates, often in the practice they used to own and sometimes elsewhere. If the mature associate does stay within the practice it can be an ideal opportunity for him or her to assist the new owner to manage and develop the practice. In addition loyal patients who have a strong relationship with the ex-principal are particularly appreciative of the dentist staying on board for as long as possible.

Tax planning is essential in any practice sale and the opportunity to maximize Goodwill value must be pursued. Under current legislation, Capital Gains Tax is generally levied at a rate of 10% on the growth in Goodwill. Once this reduced CGT has been paid there is normally an excellent opportunity to reorganize your finances generally. One important issue is that post sale you may be able to reduce the level of your insurance covers, as your debt and protection requirements have been significantly reduced.

Detailed forward planning, taking advice as early as possible, and a clear route for the final years of ownership prior to sale, all add up to a successful disposal.  Simple but effective.

See the published article in November Private Dentistry (page 46).

We have completed our Children in Need Challenge, and so far we have raised £1,467.50! Donate now using the button below or Follow this link…

Children In Need provide grants to projects in the UK which focus on children and young people who are disadvantaged. DBS want to help these children to have a future they deserve, to pursue their dreams, who knows it could be to become a dentist! On the other hand an accountant.

We are cycling to Brighton on an exercise bike. On Friday 18 November we will station an exercise bike in our office in Thame; each participating member of the team have rota time slots, we have to reach 98 miles over the day to have reached Brighton from Thame.

The bike also clocks the number of calories burnt, once you have donated you can guess the ‘total calories’. The closest guess will win a bottle of champagne.

Technology on our side, the bike will be streamed live to this page from Friday 18 November, so you can log on at anytime during the day and see which member of the team is cycling and how much effort they are putting in.

Here are some examples of what these children go through and how your donation could help.

1.6 million children in the UK are living in severe poverty. This means that their family struggle to afford basic things like bedding and clothing. Every £30 you raise could buy bedding to keep a child warm at night and let them have a good night’s sleep, something most of us take for granted.

Every 22 minutes, a child in the UK loses their mum or dad. Just £17 would provide a bereavement counselling session for a child who has lost their mum or dad.

There are 23,500 children in the UK who live with a health condition for which there is no cure. Receiving medical care to help manage these conditions can be scary and frightening for young children and their families. Every £15 that you raise could help pay for an hour of specialist nursing for a severely disabled child.

So dig deep and help DBS make a difference! Make a donation now.

Children In Need provide grants to projects in the UK which focus on children and young people who are disadvantaged. DBS want to help these children to have a future they deserve, to pursue their dreams, who knows it could be to become a dentist! On the other hand an accountant.

We are cycling to Brighton on an exercise bike. On Friday 18 November we will station an exercise bike in our office in Thame; each participating member of the team have rota time slots, we have to reach 98 miles over the day to have reached Brighton from Thame.

The bike also clocks the number of calories burnt, once you have donated you can guess the ‘total calories’. The closest guess will win a bottle of champagne.

Technology on our side, the bike will be live streaming to our website, so you can log on at anytime during the day and see which member of the team is cycling and how much effort they are putting in.

Here are some examples of what these children go through and how your donation could help.

1.6 million children in the UK are living in severe poverty. This means that their family struggle to afford basic things like bedding and clothing. Every £30 you raise could buy bedding to keep a child warm at night and let them have a good night’s sleep, something most of us take for granted.

Every 22 minutes, a child in the UK loses their mum or dad. Just £17 would provide a bereavement counselling session for a child who has lost their mum or dad.

There are 23,500 children in the UK who live with a health condition for which there is no cure. Receiving medical care to help manage these conditions can be scary and frightening for young children and their families. Every £15 that you raise could help pay for an hour of specialist nursing for a severely disabled child.

So dig deep and help DBS make a difference! Make a donation now

Visiting Dental Showcase? Go along to stand U11 and take in our new look for yourself. DBS will be there with eight members of the team over the three days, offering their expertise and advice and a free consultation. We will also give our visitors a chance to enter the prize draw to win an iPad2, Kindle or iPod.

A brand new service that we will be showcasing is being offered to Foundation Dentists – a ‘no-saving, no-fee tax review’; this service checks your tax code, NI and superannuation contributions. It will also submit a tax return claiming for any business expenses including equipment and unless they produce a tax saving, this will be done without a fee.

DBS is THE dental accounting specialist for the dental professionals, and we look forward to seeing you at the show.

Penny qualified for membership in July 2011, and becoming a member of the Chartered Institute of Taxation (CIOT), the leading professional body in the UK concerned solely with taxation.

Already a Fellow Chartered Certified Accountant, originally a university Tax and Accounts Lecturer, Penny joined DBS in 2006 and now has over five years’ experience working exclusively for dentists. After taking a family break she returned to studying, first with the Association of Taxation Technicians (ATT) achieving their highest mark in May 2009’s Business Tax paper.

She then threw herself straight into the CTA qualification, relishing being at the forefront when it comes to changes in UK tax legislation to her clients’ benefit.

Penny assists and advises all dental professionals throughout every stage of their careers. This involves managing their tax liabilities through services such as tax savings on building works, practice acquisition or disposal and incorporation. In addition to this, Penny specialises in dealing with the NHS superannuation scheme. Penny is now planning a break from exams, plus ‘my children have threatened to leave home if I take any more’, she says.