Ross-Brooke Dental

Linda Giles provides a positive balance

Which?⁠ recently revealed the results of a dental survey it had conducted, with approximately 90% of respondents saying they would recommend their dental practice. Linda Giles from ⁠Ross Brooke Dental⁠ discusses what practices can be doing with this data, as well as how it provides a more balanced perspective of UK dentistry services.

Listen here as well as on all major podcast platforms, including Apple Podcasts, Google Podcasts, Spotify and more:

Or watch the interview via The Probe’s YouTube channel: 

 

For more information, visit ⁠https://www.ross-brooke-dental.co.uk/

Ross Brooke Dental relaunches discounted fee campaign for young dentists

A campaign alerting young dentists to the importance of starting their dental career on a good financial footing is being repeated in 2024. Launched in the autumn of 2023, the award resulted in four young Associate dentists joining Ross Brooke Dental (RBD) at a discounted fee and a £1,000 donation being made by us to the BDA Benevolent Fund.  

This year, the first five qualifying dentists to be signed up to RBD for their first-year accounts and tax return will pay only half the £700 standard fee plus VAT. For each of thee five,  we will make a £50 donation to the BDA Benevolent Fund as well as a £100 donation for each additional associate sign-up before 30 September 2024. We have chosen to work with the Charity for a second year because of its inspiring role in supporting dental students, dentists, and their families through hard times.

The dentists who joined us because of last year’s campaign are experiencing the supportive style of consultancy that we like to offer, including detailed briefings and a tutorial in an online accounts system. This enables them to track their income and outgoings.

James Wootton, one of the fortunate four, said: “I am the sort of person who doesn’t like leaving things outstanding. It’s still over a year before I will have to pay any tax but getting this sorted early was definitely better. Some people seem to think that delaying appointing an accountant will save them money, but the reverse is true.

“The team at RBD know exactly what I should claim for and have been very helpful. The reduced-price entry point was very helpful at a time when I had only just started working in practice.” 

Applicants should apply by emailing: dental@ross-brooke.co.uk 

Ross Brooke Dental: https://www.ross-brooke-dental.co.uk

BDA Benevolent Fund:  https://www.bdabenevolentfund.org.uk/

The Spring Budget and the 60% tax disincentive for higher earning dentists

Linda Giles and Nathan Poole of Ross Brooke Dental analyse the budget on behalf of NASDAL

Several aspects of the Spring Budget 2024 are likely to affect dentists and their teams. Linda Giles and Nathan Poole set out their chief observations on a Budget that portrays the Government as committed to reducing taxes for working people while ensuring higher earners pay more tax.

National Insurance Contributions (NIC) are due to reduce next month:

  • A reduction from 10% to 8% for employees 
  • A reduction from 9% to 6% for the self-employed 

However, the additional 2% rate on earnings over £50,270 stays in place. 

The threshold for personal allowances remains frozen.  Linda and Nathan say those earning between £26,000 and £60,000 will be better off in the 2024-25 tax year, gaining more from the reduction in NIC than they lose in income tax due to the threshold freeze. The Chancellor plans for the threshold to remain static until 2028. By freezing the thresholds which determine when taxpayers start paying NIC and income tax, however, higher earners lose out. Linda and Nathan are disappointed that Jeremy Hunt has not opted to reduce the tax rate for higher earners who under the current income tax regime lose their personal allowance once they bring home more than £100k. Doctors and dentists earning between £100 and £125k effectively pay tax at 60%, a disincentive to full-time working.

Nathan commented: “This creates an income cliff edge when a slower tapering of the personal allowance would be so much better. There are ways to mitigate this rate, especially  for those who are incorporated, but it disincentivises owners from taking money out of the company, at a time when perhaps spending needs to be encouraged.”

Changes to the Child Benefit system will also positively impact dental team members with families. The full amount of child benefit will be paid to families where the highest-earning parent earns up to £60k – the current threshold is £50k. Families where the highest earner earns up to £80k will be paid partial child benefit.

Under the current system, when the threshold is breached, families have to pay back the child benefit they have been given. It can be a sensitive issue for working parents to confirm how much their partners are earning and work out what should be paid back. The High Income Child Benefit Charge portrays the current government as prudently not paying benefits to higher earners, however it doesn’t work well with the current tax system.

The abolition of the furnished holiday lettings regime came as a surprise. The tax advantages of furnished holiday lets are to be scrapped from April of next year but how they transition to existing property income taxes is still not completely clear.

For owners of second homes and rental properties who are thinking of selling, the decrease in the top rate of Capital Gains Tax from 28% to 24% will be welcome news. NASDAL believes the Government is hoping to incentivise sales to boost the public purse. 

Though not dramatic, the changes announced in the Budget indicate a clear agenda:

  • scrap NIC altogether and move to a single unified taxation system.
  • continued erosion of the tax differential between the self-employed and the incorporated (although there are still more options for the owners of incorporated businesses to minimise their tax outlay with good tax planning.)

Said Nathan: “Whilst practice team members will hopefully benefit from further reductions in NIC and possibly the relaxation of child benefit rules, generally we see this as a political Budget, putting more money in the pockets of possible voters. What we would like to see is a more positive outlook among consumers – we can only hope the Budget helps with this.”

RBD initiative to support newly qualified dentists and the BDA Benevolent Fund

Newly qualified dentists have the opportunity to make the best possible start to their life in business with the support of specialist dental accountants Ross Brooke Dental. The firm is offering to provide five young associate dentists with a year of accountancy and business advice at a heavily discounted rate. Normally worth £600+VAT, Ross Brooke Dental (RBD) will charge just £200 per dentist which they will donate to the BDA Benevolent Fund.

RBD has chosen the Charity because of its inspiring role in supporting dental students, dentists and their families through hard times. In 2023 the BDA Benevolent Fund is celebrating its 140thanniversary.

RBD is one of the few accountancy firms which is exclusively dedicated to dentists and believes in providing a service which is highly customised, taking dentists from early years to retirement.

Nathan Poole, who has worked with dentists for more than 15 years, said: “The first year as an associate dentist in practice isn’t easy. You must start paying back your student loan, submit your first tax return and decide what kind of business structure will suit you. Ideally, you should have specialist advice to help you navigate these challenges.”

RBD founder Linda Giles added: “In nearly 30 years as a specialist dental accountant, all the clients who started out with me stayed with me. It’s a relationship of great trust.”

Nathan and Linda are both great fans of the BDA Benevolent Fund and they hope to have enough dentists entering their award to make a donation of £1000.

Laura Hannon, Chief Executive of the BDA Benevolent Fund, commented: “The Charity often receives requests for support from newly qualified dentists during the transition phase from graduating to starting their training and again, once they have finished their Foundation Training and become Associates. It’s two periods of change in a short time frame and not everyone has the financial or wellbeing support systems in place to help them manage.”

“We are very happy that RBD have chosen to donate to the Charity enabling us to offer greater levels of support to the dental profession.  We hope this contribution will help raise awareness of the role the Charity plays for those that need it as well as the importance of good money management skills that experienced professional advisors can bring.”

To qualify to become a client of RBD from October of this year to April 2024, covering the submission of your first tax return as well as an initial meeting to sort out your business affairs, you should answer the following questions on the RBD website: 

Q 1: Who does the BDA benevolent fund help? (tick all the options that apply):
1. Older dentists
2. Young dentists
3. Members of the public
4. Dental students, dentists, and their dependents.

Q2 Why do I need a specialist dental accountant?
1. Because I want peace of mind that I am using experts to get my taxes right.
2. Because getting good advice from the start works out cheaper than fixing a mess later.
3. Because I want to make sure I have done everything I need to do.
4. Because building a team of advisers I can trust and who understand me and my circumstances is the right way to do business. 

To enter, visit: https://www.ross-brooke-dental.co.uk/blog/news/rbd-initiative-to-support-new-dentists-and-the-bda-benevolent-fund/

For more information on the BDA Benevolent Fund visit https://www.bdabenevolentfund.org.uk/ or contact 0207 4864994.

Dentists denied Covid-19 loss-of-earnings claim advised to check their insurance policy

The door has been opened for dental practices and other small businesses to make or resubmit an insurance claim for loss of income arising from Covid-19 restrictions last year. At an appeal hearing last week the Supreme Court ruled largely in favour of small businesses which had initially been denied a pay-out by their insurers.

Nathan Poole of specialist dental accountants Ross-Brooke Dental, welcomes the news. “We recommend dentists check their policies, and liaise with their insurance brokers if they think there may be grounds for a claim. Dentists may have been told that no claim was possible previously but this new ruling may open the door.”

The Supreme Court ruling comes after a test case brought by the Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) acting on behalf of policy holders who had made a claim and been denied a pay-out. The case was fast-tracked to the Supreme Court resulting in a detailed and complex ruling.

Poole said most commercial insurance policies prioritise property and equipment damage and business interruption cover associated with closure of business due to fire and flood. However, some also cover interruption from disease or public authority closures or restrictions. While a number of insurers accepted liability under such policies, others disputed liability, leading to a lack of clarity and the FCA’s test case.

He continued: “We have been working with clients to quantify and substantiate their losses which we are finding start from £50k, so substantial sums. Some dentists have already been contacted by their insurer to quantify their claim should this ruling go against them. Now the Supreme Court has ruled in favour of policyholders, we expect to see those claims settled.”

He said: “A number of our dentist clients have already had pay-outs. Obviously every policy has limitations and clauses specifying the insurers liability, but I believe there will be more dentists who find that the door which had previously been closed to them has been opened and a claim is now possible.”

His colleague Linda Giles said: “We don’t advise on insurance policies as we are not authorised to do so but we encourage our clients to use specialist brokers to get the best and most appropriate cover for a dental business. We also encourage clients to review their levels of cover regularly and make sure they understand what’s on offer, so they choose a policy to suit their needs.”