Question: One of my staff has recently become disabled. I really don’t want to lose this person but am afraid the disability will impose an extra burden on my business. Is there any help out there to assist me in keeping this employee?

Vincent Donnelly, deputy principal in the Department for Employment and Learning’s Disablement Advisory Service (DAS), replies:

Yes, there is help out there. DAS is an integral part of our Preparation for Work Division. It provides support to employers through a range of programmes to help them recruit people with health issues or disabilities and enable them to retain employees who become sick or disabled in their jobs.

These include Access to Work (NI) which provides individually assessed support to assist disabled people find and keep suitable employment. A range of one-off or longer term supports are offered. The supports include assistance with travel to and from work, the provision of a support worker, equipment, and adaptations to premises.

Another is Workable (NI), a relatively new programme that provides a range of long term supports to assist people with substantial disability related employment barriers stay in work. The support needs of each individual are assessed and the provision can include a job coach to assist the disabled worker and their colleagues adapt to the needs of the job, payment of developmental costs to the employer, extra training, and disability awareness training.

Additional information on these programmes is available through personal advisers based in local jobs and benefits offices/jobcentres. Additional information may also be obtained through the DEL website — www.delni.gov.uk . A Disability Awareness Pack is also available on the DEL website.

Question: Like many others, my business is feeling the pinch from the recession, but how can I ensure that politicians know of my situation so they can help?

Gary McKeown, consultant at public affairs company Stratagem replies:

Politicians are at their essence public representatives and as a member of the public you have a right to representation like anyone else. But you can’t assume that politicians will know about your predicament — they receive information and briefings from dozens of sources every day, so the best way to ensure they are informed about your concerns is to talk to them.

Contact the constituency offices of MLAs and MPs in your area and arrange meetings with them. Chat to local councillors in your district. Write to members of committees at the Assembly who may have an interest in your line of work. The idea is to make sure that people in a position of influence are fully aware of the challenges your business is facing in the current climate.

The key is to keep it simple and focus on what you need done to make life easier for your business. At the big picture economic level of course, politicians may not always be able to deliver what you want, but they will be keen to learn if you are facing any local barriers to carrying out your business that they may be able to address.

Question: I recently realised that I have not declared business takings I have been lodging in a bank account in the Republic. How can I sort this out?

David Hill of taxtroubleshooter.com replies:

From September 1 2009 HM Revenue & Customs will be accepting disclosures of previously undeclared income and assets held offshore under its New Disclosure Opportunity (NDO). For these purposes anywhere outside the UK is treated as offshore, so an account or property in Donegal, Dundalk, Dublin or indeed Douglas will qualify.

The NDO is potentially good news for you for a number of reasons. In all but a few exceptional cases, settlement will involve a 10% tax penalty compared with a more typical 30%; unless there is a history of tax evasion there is no realistic threat of prosecution or of being “named and shamed” and you need not meet or deal directly with the Revenue (your advisor can do this for you). Experience of the 2007 Offshore Disclosure Facility also proves that this type of disclosure can cost a fraction of the professional fees compared with a traditional investigation, is resolved more quickly and is, in short, a lot less hassle!

HMRC has recently won the right to access details from over 300 banks and financial institutions, and its agreements with other countries are mounting. The Taxman expects the recent agreement with Liechtenstein to be especially fruitful. In other words, the net is tightening and the NDO presents an excellent, but time-limited, opportunity to come clean about offshore wealth which has not been declared. Details can be found at http://www.hmrc.gov.uk/offshoreaccounts/offshore-ndo.htm