Here are some tips to keep your tax down:

1. Reduce all stock to levels and cut costs.
   Never carry excess stock because that is money that is sitting on the shelves and not in your bank.
2. Clear out stock that is slow.
   Clear stocks and turn them into cash. If necessary reduce your prices and turn stock into cash rather than have it sitting on the shelves or in the warehouse. Best to cut your losses and use the cash to buy in stock that does sell.
3. Reduce rental costs.
   Cut your rental cost by letting out or letting go space that are excess to your requirements. Talk to your landlord about what you can do. It may be that you can obtain approval to rent out areas that you don?t need.
4. Pay your bills on time but not before the due date.
   Do not pay your bills too early because having the money sitting in your bank will reduce your bank fees and interest costs. Make use of any early payment discounts offered and, where necessary, if the funds are short talk to your suppliers and see if they would allow you extra time to pay.
5. Make sure you are making a profit on your sales.
   The correct profit margin you put on to your products is critical and will determine whether you will be profitable or not.
6. Use your credit card.
   Credit cards often have an interest-free period so make use of it. Advantage can be taken of this fact by using your card to pay some expenses and then paying the credit card on the due date. The result is that you effectively obtain an interest-free period through the use of this facility.
7. Dump and no longer stock products that are not profitable.
   Check your product range and discontinue all slow moving stock that is not generating profit. It is far wiser turning poor products into ready cash and using that cash for those products which provide a profit contribution.
8. Look after your customers.
   No customers mean no business. Your customers are critical to your success, so look after them. Satisfied customers will keep coming back to buy. Unhappy ones will never be seen again. When they stop coming back, sales will be lost and your business will suffer.
9. Reduce credit to customers.
   Don?t sell on credit unless you have to. Provide credit to customers who are regulars and who support the business all the time. Give credit to those who pay their bills on time. Late payers should be dropped as the costs of servicing them will drain your profits.
10. Keep all papers.
    Remember papers are "worth more than money". Keep a record of all claims you make and all receipts to justify those claims. It is very important for you to write/record in your working papers the basis or reasoning or viewpoint relating to every claim you make. If your basis is sound but wrong then you will have a better chance to resist any claim for tax avoidance or evasion directed at you. If you have no basis at all and no thought given to how you arrived at the claim made, and your claim is rejected, you could be up for the "high jump" and be charged with the intention to evade tax.

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