It's almost the New Year, and here on AccountingWEB we're wondering what your predictions for 2015 are.
Whether it's in the area of tax, economics, accountancy in general, technology or legislation, we want to know what you think lies in store for accountants next year.
Let us know and we'll feature the best ones in a round-up article.
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predictions are
Hung parliament at next election with UKIP supporting Labour in a coalition.
Liberal Democrat party completely wiped out in General Election with the Tories only getting about 200 seats and UKIP claiming 120 members.
Referendum to come out of Europe succeeds and UK manages to balance its deficit by end of year.
Basic rate of tax increased to 30% with higher rates being at 50%, 60% and 75%.
Working Tax credit removed and its replacement being totally shelved.
More people taking up work in Government, Local Government and ancillary services. Tax revenues increase while benefits are dramatically reduced.
No this is not Utopia or a dream it is a fact.
Never laughed so hard in all my life LittleWhiteBull.
None of that will happen in 2015, except maybe the more people in government thing. The EU referendum will happen, but not 2015 and I think people will vote (narrowly) to stay in.
31st January deadline will be history
Because the new deadline for 2016/17 tax returns will be 31 October for on line filing and 31 July for paper returns
Referendum
England will hold a referendum to decide if they stay in the UK. With oil predicted at $50 per barrel , Alex Salmond will see this as a cunning plot to get rid of the Scottish subsidy junkies and will become leader of the "Better Together" campaign.
I predict that there will be a general election in the UK in 2015, followed by a government intent on 'balancing the budget' which will involve further austerity measures. This is IMHO an unwise policy.
Woe, woe and thrice woe.
RM
I predict the general election being won by someone completely incapable of running a country. And a chancellor who will complicate tax even further by simplifying it. And the Daily Mail will blame immigration.
Alex Salmond will be voted into the seat in Gordon and slowly convert all the MPs in Westminster to Scottish Nationalism. One by one they will succumb to his charm and articulate mannerism before waving a Scotland flag at any sporting event they get free tickets to.
Nigel Farage will come out and confess it has all been a wind up and he has been filming a new TV show called, 'Turkeys do vote for Christmas'. We'll all laugh at his sheer tenacity and tell the grandchildren about it until they're sick of hearing it, then we'll tell them some more.
Boris Johnson will be exposed as a comedian and Nigel's sidekick for the aforementioned show. We'll all agree it was bonkers that a city like London would vote in a jester and wonder how we didn't see it before.
Predictions
Tax: Pre-election tax cuts, followed by post election tax grab, with the excuse that "the previous administration were mismanaging things and we will put it right".
Economics: Greece and Russia will come close to default, but narrowly avoid it, as it is in nobody's interest for them to default. After the General Election, Labour will become the largest party in the UK, but will not have an overall majority, so will be propped up by the SNP. Austerity will be watered down, but ultimately not by much. The English electorate will become increasingly angry at Labour for giving in to the SNP's increased demands.
Accountancy in General: The 500 year old double entry system will end when a better system is created ... OK not likely. Accountancy standards will continue their gradual 20 year drift of becoming more international.
Bookkeeping will continue its 5 year drift towards "the cloud". Over the next 1-2 years there will be a big push by all of the accountancy software players to make their software cloud based. Xero will probably release a cloud based final accounts system in 2015. Taxfiler will build upon its excellent cloud based tax return system. In 5 years downloading and installing accountancy software on your computer may become quite a rare thing.
Auto enrolment is the elephant in the room for many of us and our clients. It will be difficult to pretend it isn't there by the end of 2015.
Technology: Apple will launch a new device called an "Apple Watch". Fanatics will camp outside of Apple stores a week before the release date. OK, no surprise there. Windows 10 will be interesting, to see whether Microsoft can truly perfect the unification of desktop and tablet operating systems. In general things will become even more interconnected and data accessible everywhere.
Legislation: More of it. None of it much use. Politicians have a habit of trying to fix problems, to make them look powerful, but they rarely fully understand the problem they are trying to fix.
I'll be brief...
Tax cuts/ no tax cuts : more red tape for accountants.
In Europe/ out of Europe : more red tape for accountants.
Austerity/ no austerity : more rd tape for accountants.
Welfare reforms/ no welfare reforms : more red tape for accountants.
Further Scottish devolution/ no Scottish devolution : more red tape for accountants.
In fact, the only thing I can foresee having no direct impact on increased red tape is the outcome of the general election although....
Regardless of who is in power... the result will be... you guessed it: more red tape for accountants!
You really have to love our profession at times!
Red Tape; to Infinity and Beyond
I'll be brief...
Tax cuts/ no tax cuts : more red tape for accountants.
In Europe/ out of Europe : more red tape for accountants.
Austerity/ no austerity : more rd tape for accountants.
Welfare reforms/ no welfare reforms : more red tape for accountants.
Further Scottish devolution/ no Scottish devolution : more red tape for accountants.In fact, the only thing I can foresee having no direct impact on increased red tape is the outcome of the general election although....
Regardless of who is in power... the result will be... you guessed it: more red tape for accountants!
You really have to love our profession at times!
An EU directive will be issued banning Red Tape and all other colours of tape; the use of colour descriptives for tape is considered discriminatory against those parties within Europe who are of the "Left". EU Legislation will swiftly follow (five years of consideration-so EU swift) banning the descriptives "Left" and "Right" on similar grounds.
An Accountant will be censured for not advising a client that the coffee in reception might prevent the client from sleeping. The decision will rest on the Accountant's implied duty of care to make their clients aware of all possible side effects and outcomes. The ECHR appeal by the accountant is expected in 2036 .
The Financial Reporting Council will issue their draft discussion paper, " Pie Chart Accounting-social inclusion for those who cannot understand numbers." Unrelated the CCAB bodies introduce a new professional paper covering colouring between the lines and optimum use of colour matching charts- Professor L Llewelyn- Bowen is retained to offer guidance framing the colour choices; the EU make comment on the proposed changes and indicate that in light of their "Tape" initiative "Red" is not to be used to indicate a loss.
In unrelated news 314,159 accountants will give up the profession during 2015.
Analysts predictions during 2015 indicate that a further 314,159 accountants will likely leave the profession during 2016. The prediction provokes controversy within Accounting circles as some within the profession do not consider a straight line reduction in numbers likely and expect the shrinkage of the profession to work on a reducing balance basis.
Economic news leaves those accountants still working heading for their attics to find their battered copies of Scapen's , "Accounting in an Inflationary Environment"
New RTI rules are introduced; in addition to using an FPS re those that have been paid and an EPS when nobody has been paid there will now be a new UPS submission for those business entities who currently have no employees but have thought about maybe one day taking on an employee. The fine for not submitting the UPS within 24 hours of the thought will be £100.
The 2015 Autumn Statement formally confirms, what has long been believed, that HMRC non compliance fines now exceed taxes gathered within the UK. The Chancellor observes that soon the UK will have no taxes on anything but the highest EU growth rate of FPP (forms per person)..
On the positive side, by the end of 2015 I will be one year nearer retirement.
Happy New Year
My predictions
Things will happen. Nothing will change. People will complain. No-one will take responsibility. Everything will be someone else's fault.
Cut and paste for 2016 and 2017 too.
My prediction
Uninvited (banned) guests will continue to try and visit AW but will quickly be shown the door.
Secondary predictions for a laugh
The HMRC will be disbanded as ineffective as tax revenues drop further.
New Laws brought in that will collect money off people at anywhere inbetween 50% to 100% of Income and Capital. The Courts, CPS and Police will be used to collect these proceeds for the new Labour Government. The Courts will order many confiscation proceedings to collect these new revenues. It will now mean that you will have 50% of your earnings confiscated for minor motoring offences leading to all Income and Capital confiscated for murder, sex crimes and other more serious offences. You have been told! If you aren't happy then leave the country!
Beer
I will start drinking beer again, having had no alcohol at all in 2014. I expect my first beer to be in approximately 15 hours 15 minutes.
Stop Press
In a change to advertised formalities, the Queen has decided to disband her New Year's "honours" list in favour of a New Year's "dishonours" list. She will now proceed with the formal removal of titles from al those who have been convicted of sex crimes, been found guilty of breaking the law or who insist on gracing our TV screens with their presence on Christmas Day Strictly Come Dancing.
In light of the above, She has now cancelled Easter, trooping of the colour, the state opening of Parliament and all other official visits for 2015 to cope with the backlog.
Happy New Year Everyone!
Politicians will be honourable and truthful
They will be honest and forthright. They will answer the question that was asked, rather than answer the question they wanted to be asked. They will act like 'grown ups' at PM Question Time, instead of demonstrating playground antics, and they will all pull together to resolve the UK's problems.
They will act fairly and openly, and not withhold information that impacts on the citizens of this country. They will not give away our assets and income to any individual, company or country without majority approval, or hand over power and authority to any unelected individual or group. They will not bribe or pay other parts of the UK to stay in the UK, without the express approval of the majority of UK citizens. They will listen to their electorate.
Ok, It was just a dream, but it was a nice one.
2015 will be the year that Bitcoin comes out of the shadows
By then end of this year, accountants will be forced to get their heads around Bitcoin - because clients will start using new crypto-currencies to send and receive payments (possibly to even pay their accountancy fees). It's going to be interesting ...