If the case is uncontested, you can go through all stages by post Court fees are on a sliding scale - pounds 10 to pounds 80 You pay pounds 60 on a debt of pounds 550, for example. In January the ceiling on small claims rose to pounds 3,000.But before taking action, the Dun & Bradstreet business information service says you should make sure all genuine disputes which may inhibit payment are resolved - for example, if you've delivered fewer goods or services than invoiced for.Also, have all other methods of collection been exhausted - have you written chasing letters, cajoled, and threatened legal action? A solicitor's letter giving notice of a County Court summons, costing around pounds 10, is often all the pressure debtors need to prompt them to pay up.The other question you must ask is whether the debtor is likely to be able to pay.The County Court procedure - which includes small claims - is fairly straightforward. The individual can take action without legal representation by following the leaflets dispensed at the County Court. And for many more than those 5,000, profits are completely wiped out by the cost of unarranged credit. When a company or an individual owes you money but won't pay, you can now fight your case relatively easily and cheaply through the courts. A recent survey among FPB members showed that the average payment was 77 days, compared with standard terms of 30 days.

In addition, there is What it will mean for employers (SAT3) and an audio cassette Contact your tax office or ring 0345 161514 Seminars can be arranged for employers Contact your tax office.. THE RECENT revelation of Deputy Prime Minister Michael Heseltine that not paying bills on time helped establish his business fortune will have struck a sour note with the self-employed. Five thousand small businesses went belly up last year directly because of slow payment, according to figures from the Forum for Private Business. If the actual tax due turns out to be more or less than the payments on account, an adjustment is made the following January. The first payment on account will be due on 31 January 1997.Partnerships: Individual partners will be assessed separately for tax. Someone will still have to fill in a tax return on behalf of the partnership, but partners will no longer be legally liable for any tax bill which another partner has failed to pay.Employers: There are extra duties under self-assessment, especially if employers pay expenses or benefits-in-kind. They will have to give a copy of form P11D to employees, setting out expenses and benefits they have received, by 6 July following the end of the tax year.More information: The Inland Revenue has produced lots of free material on self-assessment, including A general guide (code no SA/BK1), A guide to the self-employed (SA/BK2), A guide to keeping records for the self- employed (SA/BK3) and A general guide to keeping records (SA/BK4) Leaflet IR28, Starting in business, is also useful.

People who have become self-employed on or after 6 April 1994 have been taxed on the current-year basis from the start and transitional rules do not apply.Payments on account: The move to a current-year assessment iscomplicated by the introduction of payment of tax "on account" - paying tax in instalments before the final bill is worked out Payments will be due on 31 January and 31 July each year. Tax will be due on 31 January 1998, with a second instalment on 31 July 1998, for earnings in the 1997-8 tax year.Transitional rules are designed to bring about the switch from preceding- to current-year basis. Tax for the (current) 1996-7 tax year will be based on half of people's earnings this tax year and half their earnings in the 1995-6 tax year. In other words, the tax bill will be based on the average of two years' earnings.