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9am Lowdown
AcountingWEB

9am Lowdown: Services undervalued and Bitcoin

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23rd May 2017
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Good morning and welcome to Tuesday’s 9am Lowdown.

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Community: Potential clients undervalue accountancy

“Is accountancy and tax generally undervalued?” That is the conclusion AccountingWEB member Happy Up North Accountant arrived at on Any Answers after noticing a growing trend of new clients wanting more for less.

“Why is it that people are willing to pay £5 for a coffee or £60 per month for their phone bill but more and more people seem to want to pay the man or woman who is responsible for filing their accountants and planning their tax affairs what is effectively minimum wage?” asked the member.

Although the member concludes that people undervalue their services because “anyone can do their own accounts”, AccountingWEB regular Ireallyshouldknowthisbut thinks the issue is more to do with accountants poor customer service skills: “We are in a service environment, if you can’t do that sort of basic thing how good you are tax is irrelevant.”

What do you think? The thread on Any Answers is well worth a read and has become a really interesting discussion.

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Bitcoin sees exponential growth

The hype around cryptocurrency is fast becoming a reality. According to the Wall Street Journal, the price of Bitcoin hit a record high, with the currency up more than 130% this year alone.

Bitcoin traded above $2,200 on Monday. The surge of investment means that if you bought $100 in bitcoin seven years ago, the cryptocurrency would now be worth almost $73m. The Wall Street Journal attributes this spike to start-ups building bitcoin-like coins into their products.

However, another more nefarious factor could be the recent ransomware attacks, where the hackers asked to be paid in bitcoin.

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Online appeal service to launch

Taxpayers and representatives in dispute with HMRC and at the point of appealing to the tax tribunal are being invited to submit their appeals online, says the CIOT.  

The Ministry of Justice’s invitation comes ahead of the full launch of the new online appeal services. The alternative to the Notice of Appeals or Close Enquiry paper forms gives a reference number instantly when an appeal is submitted successfully.

The Ministry is looking for those interested in trialing the service. Those interested should email the Ministry here: [email protected].

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