• A Personal Message from Catriona
• Featured Article :
  Property and Taxation: Q & A Time!
• Moving On – Climbing the Career Ladder
• Out Now: IFS CeFA/CeMAP Module 1 Mock Exam Papers
• What's Around the Corner?
• Exam and Learning Resource Updates
• We Recommend…
  Calculation Workbooks
• Quote of the Month
  

The past few weeks have been extremely busy for both us – and you!  We’ve noticed the usual upsurge in enquiries and requests for our CII Diploma learning resources as the next Diploma sitting comes around.  We’re very glad to see that the majority of Diploma exam-takers are aware of how tough the exams are, and that the more help they get the better.  It can be disheartening to fail an exam, so we are very pleased to be able to help out and get more of our students passing first time. 

This week we have a fantastic free video from my friend, Micheal Tipper, who will help you find the time to study. This video is one of the modules in a bigger package to help people like you prepare for exams and he is giving this part of it away for free until sometime on Friday this week. He has put up a 2 minute video explaining why his is doing this at:
http://www.brandft.co.uk/examprep.

So get yourself over there now, download the video, watch it and start freeing up that time to get those all important preparations underway.

Wow!  March already!  So much to do, so little time! I'm off to watch that free 'finding the time' video to help me through!

http://www.brandft.co.uk/examprep

If you have any questions or comments, or any suggestions as to what can be included in this newsletter to help you maximise your potential and pass first time, please contact me directly at Catriona@BrandFT.co.uk  I would love to hear from you.

Property & Taxation: Q & A Time!

This article is relevant to anybody who wants to further their career in the financial services, whether you are at Certificate Level or Diploma Level.

This month we’re going to look at a taxation question and calculation.  Whilst this is taken from one of our CII Diploma J01 mock papers, it is relevant for anybody sitting financial services exams.  This question focuses on property and taxation.

Read carefully the question and its sub-sections.  We then suggest that you take some time to write down your own answers, before reviewing the model answer we have provided here. 

The numbers in brackets after each question indicates how many marks we have allocated.

Here we go....

Question

James grants a 35 year lease on a property in his portfolio for a premium of £120,000.

a)   Explain how profits from letting property are taxed.   (3)

b)   Calculate, showing all your workings, the amount which will be treated as the income element of the premium.   (3)

c)   State how the income element and the remainder of the premium must be treated in relation to taxation   (2)

Model Answer

a)

• They are taxed in the tax year in which they arise
• Accounts have to be prepared for the actual tax year – HMRC will normally accept accounts to 31st March rather than 5th April
• Tax is payable under the self-assessment rules, together with tax on the individuals income from all sources

b)
       Premium £120,000
       Less  ((35-1) x 120,000) / 50 = £81,600
       Income element £38,400

c)
       Income element must be included in the property letting accounts
       Remaining £81,600 is taxable under the Capital Gains Tax rules

How Did You Get On?
We provide numerous learning resources for CII and IFS Certificate and Diploma level exams to help you pass first time.   More J01 questions and answers can be found at http://www.brandft.co.uk/df/j01.asp

For other exams including CII and IFS Certificate Level, and CII Diploma Level, visit http://www.brandft.co.uk

Do You Have An Article You Would Like Us To Publish In Our Newsletter?

We’re always interested in reading and publishing any articles that may be of use to our readers. They can relate to the financial services industry, the general insurance industry or to studying and exams in general. If you would like us to consider one of your articles for publication, please email it to catriona@brandft.co.uk

Obviously with the impending Retail Distribution Review the qualification level of candidates is becoming more of an issue. Clients are not only looking at the current qualification level but also want to see what plans are in place to further improve on that level. There is a need for all candidates to be able to demonstrate how they intend to reach the required level in the time left. The other thing worth noting is that clients are also now talking to candidates about how they intend to reach a higher level and in what time frame. So if you are of the required RDR level already it would be wise not to rest on your laurels but to plan for and achieve higher qualifications in order to make yourself more attractive in the job market. These plans should be included on your CV.

RecruitUK – The independent specialist IFA recruiter. Ensuring the right people are in the right places for the right reasons.

More information can be found at www.recruitukltd.co.uk         

To discuss your recruitment needs in more detail please contact Terry Hall, directly at terry.hall@recruitukltd.co.uk

We have just launched our 3 sets of mock papers for the IFS CeFA/CeMAP Module 1, plus a free taster set. 

These are written by Brand Financial Training in the same style as the IFS papers, but they are not duplicates of the IFS mock papers.

Our mock exam question papers ensure you get the practise you need to achieve exam success. 

• Free questions
• 3 full sets of 100 questions to purchase
• All answers include cross references to the IFS study text
• All of our questions are kept up-to-date to reflect any changes to the exam syllabus and    tax year
• All of our papers are provided electronically in PDF format - you can print them out and complete them wherever you wish - no need to sit at a PC and no waiting for the postman!
• All purchases come with our 14 day, no questions asked, money-back guarantee

You can claim your free set, and purchase our 3 full sets at http://brandft.co.uk/ifs/cefa1mockq.asp

We’re now working on mock papers for the CII General Insurance IF4 ‘Insurance claims handling process’ exam, as well as for the IFS CeFA/CeMAP Module 2 exam. 

Updates to all of our learning resources can be found at http://www.brandft.co.uk/updates.asp 

It is essential that you visit this page periodically to ensure that you have the most up-to-date information regarding your learning resources.  Please do not email us with any resource-related queries before checking this page.

Our calculation workbooks focus on the calculations found in your exam.  They ensure you get maximum practice with step-by-step answers so that you know exactly how to get the answer required.  The calculation workbooks cover the exam syllabus and will ensure you gain extra marks which often mean the difference between a pass and a fail.

These are not available anywhere else!

You can view a demo video to find out what is included in the calculation workbook related to your next exam.

They are available for:
CF1 http://www.brandft.co.uk/cf/cf1calcwkbk.asp
CF2 http://www.brandft.co.uk/cf/cf2calcwkbk.asp
CF6 http://www.brandft.co.uk/cf/cf6calcwkbk.asp

J01 http://www.brandft.co.uk/df/j01calcwkbk.asp
J04 http://www.brandft.co.uk/df/j04calcwkbk.asp
J05 http://www.brandft.co.uk/df/j05calcwkbk.asp
J06 http://www.brandft.co.uk/df/j06calcwkbk.asp

Provided electronically in PDF format, they are available as soon as you make payment on our website.  You can print it out and go through the calculations wherever you wish – no need to sit at a PC and no waiting for the postman!

And don’t forget our 14-day money-back guarantee.

Gain access within minutes by simply paying online.

Ensure you pass first time, without fail.