DMA and CTG score a hit with HMRC over VAT!

We love acronyms - but for those of you who don't, all will be revealed below!

The Direct Marketing Association (DMA), working with the Charity Tax Group (CTG), was pleased to announce recently that an agreement had been reached with Her Majesty's Revenue & Customs (HMRC) over a number of issues concerning Value Added Tax (VAT).

The problem was this: the HMRC Guidelines were misleading, so some charities and direct mailing companies were including the cost of postage in zero-rated print supply deals, thinking it was perfectly acceptable practice.

When this was discovered by HMRC, they wanted to charge retrospective penalties to any organisation which had failed to adhere to the rules, despite the fact that the DMA and other organisations had sought clarification early on and no response was forthcoming.

So here's an early Christmas present for all of us, delivered by the HMRC on December 11th! They have agreed that there will be no penalties, for which our industry can heave a huge collective sigh of relief since the demands amounted to hundreds of millions of pounds which we can ill afford.

Secondly, HMRC have agreed to new and fairer rules  and given an implementation date of 1 April 2015 to give all of us time to make alternative plans or renegotiate contracts as necessary.

See Mailing Experts' next blog, after all the seasonal jollities, when we'll explain the new guidance to you in a language that won't make you lose the will to live…

In the meantime, have a wonderful Christmas and a very Happy New Year.

Royal Mail changes to Business Reply Devices

Business Reply devices (such as envelopes and cards) can be a fantastic resource for your mailing campaigns, encouraging responses from potential customers, because it doesn't cost them anything but time!
If you're not sure how it works, you apply to Royal Mail for a licence number and have this - and of course, your address - printed onto the reply device. There's an annual licence fee, but postage costs are discounted and you only pay postage on envelopes which are used.

BUT

On November 7th, 2014, new regulations about the design of the reply device come into force.

Each reply device must be printed with a 12-character barcode, fully compliant with Royal Mail specifications. The barcode contains the first 6 digits of your licence number as well as other coded information such as the delivery speed. If your current licence number is less than 12 digits, you may have to apply for a new one.

Remember, remember the 7th November!

You have plenty of time to exhaust your supply of existing reply devices before that date. You also have plenty of time to call on our services!

We can help you through the licence barcode maze and have new reply devices printed for you which will be fully-approved by Royal Mail - not compromising the success of your Direct Mailing campaign.

Don't delay - contact us today on 01825 983033 or info@mailingexpert.co.uk

Oh, and here's a link to the relevant page of the Royal Mail website, for your convenience.

http://www.royalmail.com/marketing-services-regular/deliver-your-campaign/business-reply-freepost-plus

(Snappy little web address, isn't it?)

All the best from Mailing Expert

Delivering Communications

Are you ready for D-Day?

As from next Monday (6^th July 2013) you will have to use the new Royal Mail PPI on your envelopes (that's the one with the "Delivered By" next to the PPI). If you are still using the old style PPIs from the 6^th of July your post could be returned to you as the Royal Mail will not accept them.

If you need further information, or to arrange a new supply of envelopes (with the new PPI printed on them), contact Mailing Expert on 01825 983 033.

Mailing Expert – Delivering Communications

 

Mailing Expert - Proud Members of the DMA!

Do you believe in professional excellence? Mailing Expert does! That's why we're proud to announce that we are now members of the Direct Marketing Association (DMA).

Most industries have a professional body that upholds standards and seeks to inspire the very best from members. For professions such as solicitors, accountants, architects, bankers, insurance and finance, membership of the professional body is a legal requirement. The printing and direct mail industry are unregulated, and membership of the professional body (DMA) is optional.

At Mailing Expert we are committed to delivering the very best service to our customers. We believe that our customers deserve the highest standards of care for their direct mail projects and marketing campaigns. That's why we are very happy to work to the exacting standards of excellence required of members by the DMA.

If you are looking for the very best in communications you need to talk to a DMA member. Call 01825 983 033 now and find out why Mailing Expert will deliver more for your Direct Mail campaign

All change at the Royal Mail!

There has been a lot of press coverage this week of the price increases at the Post Office.  The new prices are effective from 2nd April 2012 and see an increase of between 1p to 3p on a standard letter postal costs depending on which letter service you are using.

As part of the price review VAT is now being charged on all bulk mail. This means that if you are currently using a Royal Mail account to send your office mail, then you will now have to pay VAT on this.  If you are in a non-vatable business, for example insurance, council run gyms or an industry where VAT is only partially recoverable i.e. charities , trade unions or associations then it might be cheaper to revert to a franking account for the time being as VAT is not being charged on as many franking services.

There are a number of views as to why the service is making this radical change to the postage pricing structure.  Some schools of thought are suggesting that the imposition of VAT on mail services is driven by Europe and merely brings the Royal Mail in line with the Downstream Access providers to promote competition and level the playing field, whereas others see more sinister moves afoot - harmonisation of service prior to the eventual denationalisation and postal service sell off.

Other changes that have received less mainstream press coverage relate to the change is the actual services themselves.  Many old familiar services have been renamed - almost it seems in an attempt to confuse rather than assist the buyer.

For example Cleanmail could now be classified as Business Mail or Advertising Mail (Unsorted).  Walksort is being disbanded as all mail centres now have the technology to walksort.  Mailsort has been simplified into two categories Highsort or Lowsort depending on the sort level being used.

Sustainable Mail, one of the innovative new products that Royal Mail introduced a few years back is now only available on Advertising Mail and therefore will no longer apply to mailings which are only eligible for the Business Mail category as opposed to the Advertising Mail option.

In the Business Mail category you can now only send out letters or large letters under this heading - packets are no longer eligible for this service which means that large items won't qualify and will have to be sent using Business Mail First Class or Business Mail (not sure what the logic is here as Advertising Mail is Advertising Mail whether it's first or second class - why should Business Mail be different to everything else?) or Packetsort which has less of a discount.

As ever with the Post Office the devil is in the detail and it's worth consulting an expert about your postal needs for the coming year before you put in too much planning.  Mailing Expert is on hand to help clients old and new with the changes.  Please call Mailing Expert on 01825 983 033 and we'll be happy to help with all your mailing needs.

Beat The Vat Man – Post Early For The Best Price

During 2011 there were a number of changes to the way in which the Royal Mail are regulated. A small number of services are now subject to VAT and this is due to be extended during 2012 across the piece. By 2^nd April just about every Royal Mail service used by businesses will be VAT rated.

Although the change will not affect most businesses who are VAT rated, the change will have a major impact on small businesses, insurance brokers and financial institutions who are not able or are only partially registered for VAT.

Mailing Expert understands that services such as 1st and 2nd Class stamped and franked mail, Special Delivery, Next Day (Stamped and Franked), Standard parcels and Keepsafe will continue to be VAT exempt for the foreseeable future.

Some services such as Recorded Signed For will remain exempt from VAT only if purchased with an exempt service.

Financial institutions that are not VAT rated and have financial statements and the like to send out at the end of March will face a twenty percent hike in their costs unless they are able to get produce and send these out before the 2^nd April when the changes take place.

After 2^nd April Royal Mail pricing structures will be on a level playing field with downstream access providers  who currently are not able to compete with the Royal Mail on price for non VAT businesses. It is likely that many businesses will move away from Royal Mail to use these cheaper services.

Mailing Expert is helping a number of businesses that want to beat the VATman by booking in mailings for February and March. We can also help those unrated businesses access the postage discounts available from the alternative providers. Call Mailing Expert on 01825 983 033 for further details.

Direct mail fulfilment – customer satisfaction guaranteed!

As we get closer to Christmas mailing rooms around the country start to get a little bit fraught. It's great to have the orders rolling in, however managing your customers expectations can be key to getting repeat business next year.

According to the Royal Mail "Delivery Matters Survey" carried out in 2010, 50% of customers like to be kept up to date with where their goods are. One of the most helpful things that you can do is to keep your customers as well informed as possible about the status of their order.

SMS text messaging can be used to great effect in your direct mail fulfilment process. The Mailing Expert online automated SMS system can be used to send text messages to customers to update them on the status of their order. This can help to reduce calls to your customer services team when they are already at maximum capacity.

If you are looking for help in getting your orders out Mailing Expert can offer you a range of direct mail fulfilment services that will ensure your customers orders are met on time. We can help with straight forward direct mail fulfilment and despatch services, send items on your behalf using services like Royal Mail Tracked, or help with clever ideas like our SMS and Email services.

The Mailing Expert SMS Success service is available for customers to use as part of their own mailing program or in conjunction with any direct mail or fulfilment services that Mailing Expert provides on your behalf. Click here to sign up for a free trial on the Mailing Expert sms success system.

For help with all your direct mail marketing, printing or fulfilment requirements call THE direct mail company Mailing Expert on 01825 983 033.