Mrs. Fields? is Turning 35 this Weekend - Franchising.com

Mrs. Fields? 35th Anniversary Hot Spots and Free Cookie Giveaways!

Broomfield, CO (PRWEB) August 16, 2012 -?This weekend marks the 35th anniversary of Mrs. Fields, an American success story of the sweetest kind. In 1977, after meeting with several different banks (who first devoured her cookies and then turned her down for a business loan), young mother and founder Debbi Fields persisted and finally achieved her dream of opening her own store on August 18 in Palo Alto, California.

During a quiet first day of business, Debbi took a batch of fresh cookies outside and walked up and down the boardwalk, handing out warm samples and leading a steady stream of happy customers back to her door. She learned something important that first day?this would be a business of selling smiles.

Thirty-five years later, the tradition of selling smiles continues although on a much larger scale. Today Mrs. Fields is an internationally recognized brand with over 325 franchised stores in 23 countries, as well as a successful gift catalog featuring online gifting (mrsfields.com), a delicious grocery product and successful licensing division.

As a tribute to their humble beginnings, Mrs. Fields is celebrating their 35th anniversary this weekend by handing out nearly ten thousand free cookies at five locations in four different cities around the country. The locations were chosen based on longstanding loyal customer bases, as a way to give back and thank customers for decades of business and smiles.

Mrs. Fields fans are encouraged to stop by, enjoy a free cookie, and share a smile at any one of five ?hot spots? Friday and Saturday:

Chicago, Illinois

Two locations:
32 E. Randolph
Chicago
IL -60601
Friday, August 17, 1:00 p.m.

242 S. State St
Chicago
IL -60604
Friday, August 17, 4:00 p.m.

Las Vegas, Nevada

Location:
Between City Center and Bellagio
Friday, August 17, 8:00 p.m.
Saturday, August 18, 11:00 a.m.

Park City, Utah

Location:
333 Main Street
Park City, Utah
84060-4000
Friday, August 17, 12:00 p.m.

Philadelphia, Pennsylvania

Location:
Independence Mall Area near the Liberty Bell
Saturday, August 18, 12:00 p.m.

Contact:

Cassie Alvey
Mrs. Fields Gifts
(801) 412-8870

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Source: http://www.franchising.com/news/20120816_mrs_fieldsreg_is_turning_35_this_weekend.html

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Do You Need a Professional Trustee? | Davidov Law Group

Aug 12, 2012 ?/? By: Michael Davidov, Estate Planning and Elder Law Attorney ?/? Category: Revocable Living Trusts, Trustees

Many people who create Trusts do not have a family member who is an appropriate person to appoint to serve as a Trustee. The person who serves as a Trustee should be financially responsible and someone who will not be tempted to administer the Trust for his or her own benefit instead of the benefit of the Trust beneficiaries. Ideally, the person should also be someone who the beneficiaries respect enough to defer to in decision-making without unnecessary challenges.

Many?people do have responsible and respected family members who can act as Trustees, but those who don?t have to look for other options.?Some people choose to use professionals. Banks and Trust Companies will act as Trustees for a fee. They can both be excellent options. Another option is to hire an attorney to act as a Trustee. Because of the professional ethics demanded of attorneys, they will act for the benefit of the Trust. Yet another option is to appoint the best family member that you can and hire an attorney to act as an advisor to the family member Trustee when the need arises for professional advice.

Talk to your estate planning attorney about who you should appoint to serve as a Trustee for the Trusts that you create and whether you would benefit from a professional as a Trustee.

Davidov Law Group is a member of the American Academy of Estate Planning Attorneys.

Source: http://www.davidovlaw.com/blog/estate-planning/revocable-living-trusts/professional-trustee/

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Caring for Grosfillex Resin Patio Furniture - Grande Rencontre

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Source: http://granderencontre.com/caring-for-grosfillex-resin-patio-furniture.html

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My Delicious, Fat Burning, ?Paleo? Chocolate Chip Cookies Recipe ...

GOD, I LOVE COOKIES!

Since it IS?Saturday and the weekend is here, I decided to take it easy and post something a little more FUN today.

I want to tell you about my Chocolate Chip Cookie Recipe that I have been tweaking for about 7-10 days now.? I am really enjoying the recipe that yielded my most current batch of about 30 cookies.

Here is a little background about this project.? First of all, when it comes to food,?I come from a bodybuilding point of view.? And, although currently bodybuilding may not be the coolest new thing, one thing that bodybuilders understand very well is how every little?food choice has a direct impact on how you look, feel, and perform.? In short, good bodybuilders are masters of what I call goal oriented dieting.? A mastery of the art of eating is essential to the bodybuiding craft.? So, I may look at food a bit differently than you do.? I DO NOT count or worry about calories.? EVER.? To me, counting calories is for amateurs.? If it works for you, GREAT!? But, I?m just saying, there is a less painful way.? Counting calories SUCKS.? Even if I am dieting down for a bodybuilding contest, I DO NOT count calories.? It?s just totally irrelevant.? What is critical to me is FOOD CHOICE.

I look at each and every food in terms of:

1. will this food help me?
2. will this food hurt me?
3. is this food basically neutral?

For example, eggs.? Eating at least one egg yolk per day, to me, is a necessity.? Not only is an egg yolk loaded with some advantageous items (such as arachidonic acid, biotin, and selenium)?that are difficult to find in other foods, eating eggs has been shown time and time again to stabilize blood sugar levels.? And anybody that knows anything about dieting can tell you that, essentially, ALL DIETING is about the manipulation of insulin.? But, hold on, today is Saturday, and I am getting a little more complicated here than I need to or want to.? We can talk high?level nutrition theory some other time.? Let?s just finish with saying that eating 2000 calories per day from sugar is?A WORLD APART from eating 2000 calories per day from chicken.? Anybody can see that, right?? That kind of blows calorie theory / energy metabolism and popular?diet theory right out of the water, does it not?? So, in summary, food choice trumps calories every day of the week.

Let?s get back to the cookies? damn it? I just LOVE cookies so much.? Anyway, before I shoot this recipe out there, I would also like to add that this recipe was inspired by similar Paleo recipes.? Now, I am not sure that the hardcore Paleo Diet people out there would agree that all my ingredients are Paleo, but I am happy with my current formula.

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Here?s the recipe:

Paul Newt?s Delicious Chocolate Chip Cookies

3.25 cups of Blanched Almond Flour

1/2 teaspoon of baking soda

1/2 teaspoon of sea salt

1/2 teaspoon of cinnamon

2 whole eggs

2 egg whites

4 tablespoons of coconut oil

1 teaspoon vanilla extract

1/2 cup of pure maple syrup

1/2 cup Teddie Bear All Natural Peanut Butter Crunchy

1/2 cup coconut flakes

1/2 cup Dark Chocolate Chips (60% cacao)

1/2 cup Semi-Sweet Chocolate Chips

What you should notice about my ingredients is they are BASIC,?CLEAN foods.? Also, there is no wheat flour in these cookies, which is probably the most important point.? I have been a chronic avoider of wheat and wheat products for at least 15 years or so.? My weakness was always that I love baked goodies like cookies and brownies, but for the most part, I have avoided wheat and wheat products at every turn.? Why?? The short answer is wheat is a problem, especially if you are male- wheat is estrogenic.? And (wheat) flour, in general, is a problem for anyone sensitive to carbohydrates, like I am.

If you examine each one of these ingredients, almost all of them provide positive health benefits on their own.? Go ahead and Google the health benefits of vanilla, cinnamon, coconut oil, almonds (almond flour), natural peanut butter, eggs, and dark chocolate (cacao).? You will find that you finish with a pretty long list of health benefits.? Granted, this is a pretty simplified way of looking at health benefits of food and you do have to also consider how eating these foods together affects the benefits, but I am happy to experiment on myself by overeating these cookies, haha.

Here?s the easy to follow?directions.

DIRECTIONS

Hopefully, you have a Kitchen Aid mixer AND a blender.? If not you will have to do most of it by hand in a large mixing bowl.? But let?s assume you have the mixer and the blender and then you can do it the easy way or find another way.

In the Kitchen Aid Mixer, throw in the almond flour, baking soda, sea salt, and cinnamon.? Set the mixer on low for a couple minutes and get that stuff mixed up.

In the BLENDER, crack the 2 whole eggs and throw them in, add 2 more egg whites.? Then add 4 tablespoons of coconut oil.? Add the vanilla extract, 1 teaspoon. ?Then add the 1/2 cup REAL maple syrup?

Let me tell you a funny story about REAL maple syrup?? maybe, some other time?

Okay, now blend up those ?wet? ingredients.? Don?t turn it into a Frappe, just put the blend on medium blend or ?stir? or whatever medium low is on your blender.? Preheat your oven to 350 degrees.

Restart the Kitchen Aid mixer on low and add the blender contents to your ?dry ingredients.? Use a rubber spatula to get all that good stuff out of the blender.

Let the mixer run for a few minutes while you clean up a little.

Stop the mixer.? Add the peanut butter and restart the mixer.? Mix for a couple minutes.? Stop the mixer and add the coconut flakes.? Restart the mixer and mix for a couple more minutes.? Let your cookie dough sit in the mixer for a few more minutes while you tidy up the kitchen a bit more.? Restart the mixer.? Mix for a couple more minutes.? Add in the CHOCOLATE CHIPS.?? Mix a little longer.? Good.

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Line a cookie sheet with parchment paper.? Even though you don?t really need to, spray the parchment paper with a non-stick cooking spray.? Use a parfait spoon to dole out golf ball size scoops of cookie dough on your cookie sheet lined with parchment paper.? I can fit 16 chocolate chip golf balls per sheet.? BAKE at 350 degrees for 11 minutes.

This recipe makes about 30 cookies.

MACRONUTRIENT PROFILE ? FATS, CARBOHYDRATES, PROTEINS

I entered this recipe into a diet app on my iPhone called Calorie Counter by FatSecret, so I could find out how much protein, carbohydrate, and fat was in this recipe.? Here are the results:

The full batch, entire batter, contains 326 grams of fat, 275 grams of carbohydrate, and 113 grams of protein, yielding a total of 4159 calories.

The entire batter makes about 30 cookies.? So divided out, each cookie contains roughly 11 grams of fat, 9 grams of carbohydrate, and 3.75 grams of protein.? It is also very important to notice that each cookie only contains 9 grams of carbs AND slightly more than 1.5 of those carbs/cookie are FIBER.? This means the ?net? carbs/cookie is actually only slightly more than 6 grams.? It is also very important to take note of the fat sources and types of fats in these cookies.? Without getting overly complicated, I find it important to mention that the majority of the saturated fat in this recipe comes from the coconut oil and?is in the form of MCTs (Medium Chain Triglycerides).? MCTs are another item, well known to bodybuilders, for?their ability to provide energy AND help your body burn more fat.?? Ahhhhhh? those bodybuilders in the 80?s REALLY WERE ahead of the curve.

SUMMARY

So I have made great tasting chocolate chip cookies that include several powerfood items, are Paleo, relatively low in carbs, contain no wheat or wheat products, and are gluten free.? Oh, and these cookies can help you lose bodyfat.? I call that a ?WIN?.

Unless you eat 25 of them like I did yesterday.

Enjoy these cookies!

I would love for you to try these and come back and comment on how much you enjoyed them?!

Source: http://www.theperfect105.com/2012/08/11/my-delicious-fat-burning-paleo-chocolate-chip-cookies-recipe/

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Summer camps as a way to maintain sibling relationships in ...

For many children in foster care of those adopted from foster care, being separated from one or more sibling is unfortunately a common experience. Although the sibling relationship is the longest relationship any person will have to another family member, about 70% of the children in foster care also have another sibling in care. Because of many barriers, these siblings are often placed in separate homes. Some children lose contact with their siblings and never have the chance to develop a relationship.

Resources such as Camp To Belong and Camp Connect (featured in this article) are one way that child welfare professionals and adoptive and foster parents can support sibling relationships.

Camp To Belong

Camp Connect

For more information on best practices with sibling groups in foster care and adoption, the following resources may be helpful.
Child Welfare Information Gateway - Sibling Issues in Foster Care and Adoption
Foster Club - personal stories of the impact of sibling separation by youth in foster care
Ellen Singer, LCSW - Sibling Bonds and Separation
NY State Office of Children and Family Services - Keeping Siblings Connected

Source: http://blog.lib.umn.edu/cascw/adoption/2012/08/maintaining-sibling-relationships-in-adoption-and-foster-care.html

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Syrian rebels survive onslaught in key city of Aleppo

BEIRUT (AP) ? The Syrian government launched an offensive Saturday to retake rebel-held neighborhoods in the nation's commercial hub of Aleppo, unleashing artillery, tanks and helicopter gunships against poorly armed opposition fighters.

Yet after a day of fighting, the rag-tag rebel forces remained in control of their neighborhoods in Syria's largest city, said activists, suggesting they had successfully fought off the government's initial assault.

The international community has raised an outcry about a possible massacre in this city of 3 million but acknowledged there was little they could do to stop the bloodshed. The foreign minister of Russia, a powerful ally of Syria, said it was "simply unrealistic" for the Syrian regime to cede control.

The state-controlled al-Watan newspaper celebrated the assault with a banner headline proclaiming the fight for Aleppo "the mother of all battles."

The rebels are estimated to control between a third and a half of the neighborhoods in this sprawling city, especially a cluster in the northeast around Sakhour neighborhood and in the southwest.

They began their attempt to wrest this key city from the government's control a week ago. About 162 people have been killed, mostly civilians, according to the Britain-based Syrian Observatory for Human Rights, which does not include soldiers in its toll. Some 19,000 people have been killed since the uprising began in March 2011, estimated the group.

For Saturday, activists estimate that at least two dozen have died so far in the day's fighting.

Local activist Mohammed Saeed said the rebels have managed to keep the regime's tanks at bay so far with rocket-propelled grenades.

"The army hasn't been able to take any neighborhoods yet, there are too many from the Free Syrian Army," Saeed said, referring to the rebels.

He estimated that about 1,000 fighters had poured into the city in the past few days to take on the Syrian army, which had been massing forces around the city ahead of its attack.

By the end of Saturday, according to the Observatory, the government appeared to have pulled back from its ground offensive and was resuming its bombardment of various neighborhoods with artillery. Attack helicopters pounded rebel positions.

There were few details about the attack in the state press, although it issued a long list of victories across the country against the "terrorists," as the rebels are referred to, a sign of widespread fighting.

The international community has expressed growing concern that there could be major bloodshed if Syrian troops retake Aleppo. But Western nations and their allies have found themselves powerless to prevent the situation from deteriorating despite a series of diplomatic efforts, including a cease-fire agreement that never took effect.

Kofi Annan, who brokered the agreement, expressed concern Saturday about the weapons buildup in Aleppo. "I remind the parties to the conflict of their obligations under international humanitarian law and human rights law, and urge them to exercise restraint and avoid any further bloodshed."

In a statement, the Arab League expressed "deep dissatisfaction for the Syrian regime's acts of oppression," particularly the use of heavy weapons against its own people. It urged Syria "to stop the cycle of killing and violence and lift the siege off the Syrian neighborhoods under attack."

The group's deputy chief, Ahmed Ben Hali added that the Arab states were preparing a resolution in front of the United Nations General Assembly calling for the creation of safe havens to protect civilians and to apply further sanctions on the regime.

Measures passed in the General Assembly are largely symbolic and not binding. The West and its Arab allies have been unable to pass effective resolutions in the more powerful Security Council. China, and especially Syria's close ally, Russia, have vetoed any attempt to sanction Bashar Assad's regime.

Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov on Saturday called the bloodshed in Aleppo a tragedy, but asked what else could the government do against the rebellion.

"Now the city of Aleppo is occupied by the armed opposition; another tragedy is imminent there," he said. "How can it be hoped that in such a situation the government will simply give in, say 'Okay, I wasn't right, overthrow me, change the regime ? it's simply unrealistic."

Russia has been a key source of support for Syria, although Moscow officials in recent months have said they are simply taking a more even-handed approach while the West offers support to the rebels.

French President Francois Hollande even chided Russia and China on Saturday, asking them to "take into consideration ... that it will be chaos and civil war if at some moment Assad isn't stopped."

It's been a difficult two weeks for the Syrian government, with assaults on its two main cities, a bomb that killed four top security officials and a string of high-profile defections.

The country's military apparatus, though, has remained intact and continues to crush the opposition's remnants in Damascus and its outskirts.

If they really try to make a stand in Aleppo, the rebels risk being annihilated by superior firepower, and may instead withdraw to preserve their forces as they did in Damascus last week.

Italy welcomed Friday's release of two Italian electrical engineers, who had been captured eight days ago by militants.

Domenico Tedeschi and Oriano Cantani, who worked on power plants, told reporters in Damascus that they had been kidnapped by five or six masked men who intercepted their car as they drove to the airport. They were later rescued by the Syrian army.

Amid the fighting, three Syrian athletes took part in the first day of competition in London's Olympic games in swimming, shooting and boxing.

All were defeated, including Wessam Slama, a bantam weight boxer who was one of Syria's better medal hopes.

The team's leader, Maher Khayata, whose family is currently trapped by the fighting in Aleppo, said their thoughts were always on the situation at home.

"We would like to return with an Olympic medal," he told The Associated Press, "but what we want more is to return to our homeland with the news that fighting has stopped and nobody is being killed anymore."

_____

Associated Press writers Albert Aji in Damascus, Colleen Barry in Rome, Barbara Surk in London and Jim Heintz in Moscow contributed to this report.

Source: http://news.yahoo.com/syrian-rebels-survive-regime-onslaught-aleppo-192314241.html

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e-taxline: Incentives, relief and opportunities : Grant Thornton Tax ...

With SARS? filing season now in full swing, taxpayers may not be aware of the multiple deadlines looming that could have an impact on their bottom line.

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Research and Development tax incentives
By Steve Curr, Tax Director, Grant Thornton Cape

The tax incentive the South African Revenue Service (SARS) is offering to entities investing in research and development (R&D) in South Africa is set to change on 1 October 2012.

Current position
The current R&D income tax incentive provides for:

• 150% tax deduction of R&D? expenditure (excluding capital expenditure).
• An accelerated capital allowance of 50/30/20% for capital expenditure on plant and machinery used in R&D activities.
• R&D activities are specifically defined and all expenses must be incurred for trade in SA, in the production of income.

The distinction between ?non-capital? and ?capital? expenditure is not entirely clear in the case of R&D expenditure, which in its nature, could be regarded largely as capital expenditure.

The new position from 1 October 2012

• The 2011 Taxation Laws Amendment Act introduced changes to the R&D income tax incentive in respect of expenditure incurred on/after 1 October 2012 The revised tax relief regime provides for:
  1. 100% of R&D expenditures (incl. capital expenditure, with no pre-approval required)
  2. 50% of R&D expenditures (incl. capital expenditure) if pre-approved by the Department of Science and Technology (DST) and annual progress reporting to DST made.
• The distinction between ?capital? and ?non-capital? expenditure has been removed, however a pre-approval process has been introduced in order for claimants to qualify for the 50% ?uplift? in tax relief.
• R&D activities are specifically defined and all expenses incurred must be for trade in SA and in the production of income.
• The list of activities that qualify as R&D activities is quite broad and we suggest that you contact us to discuss this in more detail, as the less obvious opportunities are often overlooked.
• Specific exclusions from R&D expenses include marketing related, administration/financing/compliance, routine testing, internal business processes unless for sale/licensing, social science research, oil and gas exploration/prospecting, development of financial products, enhancement of trademarks/goodwill, related to pre-existing inventions.
• One of the material changes in the revised list of non-qualifying R&D expenditures is in respect of development of business software for resale or licensing, which previously did not qualify for the 150% R&D deduction.
• The development of the business software for sale or licensing should now constitute qualifying R&D expenditure.

In a nutshell
The removal of the distinction between ?capital? and ?non-capital? R&D expenditure for R&D tax claim purposes should assist claimants; however it is now necessary for taxpayers to obtain the prior approval from the DST in order to qualify for the 50% uplift in the tax relief for R&D expenditure. In the absence of such prior approval, taxpayers may nevertheless qualify for tax relief in respect of 100% of qualifying R&D expenses (capital and non-capital expenditure).

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Residential property -?a window period of opportunity
By Kathy Dixon, Tax Manager, Grant Thornton East London

Natural persons who transfer ownership of immovable property from a company or closed corporation (CC) to the shareholder, member and/or spouse, are temporarily exempt from the additional transfer duty, capital gains tax, secondary tax on companies and dividends tax (which replaced STC) usually incurred when changing ownership. The 2010 Taxation Laws Amendment similarly also extends relief to natural persons who transfer ownership from trust structures to the donor and/or spouse.

Effective date
The relief measure came into operation on 1 October 2010 and applies to the disposal of a residence from a company or trust on or after this date and before 1 January 2013.

Qualifying criteria
The core objective of the relief measure is to assist taxpayers with simple standardised structures where a residence was placed in a company or trust solely to avoid transfer duty. The following criteria must be complied with in order to take advantage of the relief:

• Dispose of an interest in a residence: Vacant land does not qualify. Conversely, shares in a share block company is considered an interest in a residence and accordingly a company or trust holding a share in share block company can make use of the relief.
• Disposed of on or after 1 October 2010 but no later than 31 December 2012: The time of disposal should not be confused with the time of registration in the deed registry, as the relief measure does not lay down any time limit for registration of the property. The time of disposal rules as envisaged for the purpose of capital gains tax govern when a disposal takes place.
• The use-and-occupation: A qualifying residence must have been used mainly for domestic purposes between 11 February 2009 to the date of disposal by the company or trust. In other words, this means more than 50% must be used for domestic purposes based on floor-area measurement.
• The connected person: The natural person who used the residence mainly for domestic purposes must be connected persons in relation to the company or trust at the time of disposal by the company or trust.
• Termination or the company or trust requirement: The company, CC or trust must take the required steps to initiate a process to terminate the existence of the relevant entity.

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Opportunity to benefit from lower capital gains tax rate
By Steve Curr, Tax Director, Grant Thornton Cape

The Minister of Finance announced an increase in the effective capital gains tax (CGT) rates during his budget speech in February this year. It was indicated that the increase would be effective in respect disposal made on or after 1 March 2012. However, the Draft Rates and Monetary Amounts and Amendment of Revenue Laws Bill which was released on 13 March 2012, stipulates that the increase in effective CGT rates is effective from on 1 March 2012 and will apply in respect of years of assessment commencing on or after that date.

This means that for individuals (for whom the tax year generally ends on 28 February each year), the rate increase will be effective for disposals made on or after 1 March 2012.

Opportunities for companies
However, in the case of companies with a year-end other than 28 February, the increased CGT rates will only apply to disposals made on/ after 1 March 2012 in respect of year-ends ending before 28 February 2013 (i.e. for year-ends up to and including 31 January 2013). For example, a company with a 30 June 2012 year-end that disposes of an asset after 1 March 2012 will still enjoy the previous CGT effective rate of 14%, as opposed to the new effective rate of 18.67%.

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SARS proposes relaxing credit / debit notes VAT requirements
By Cliff Watson, Associate Director ? Indirect Tax, Grant Thornton Johannesburg

SARS? allowable reasons to issue debit and credit notes
At present, vendors may only issue debit or credit notes in specific instances when:

• the agreed upon supply has been cancelled,
• the nature of that supply has been fundamentally varied or altered,
• or the previously agreed consideration for that supply has been altered by agreement with the recipient, whether due to the offer of a discount or for any other reason, or the goods or services or part of the goods or services supplied have been returned to the supplier.

Practical changes proposed
However, in instances when a vendor issues a tax invoice for an incorrect amount, or where specific elements that are required to produce a valid tax invoice are omitted, for example the VAT number of the recipient, such vendor is not entitled to issue a credit note to correct the mistake as the reason to issue the credit note falls outside the list of allowable reasons according to section 21 (1) of the VAT Act.

This treatment poses practical difficulties for vendors and therefore SARS is proposing that the allowable reasons for issuing credit or debit notes be extended to allow for the correction of incorrect tax invoices as well as these additional reasons:

• when an error has occurred in stipulating the amount of consideration agreed upon for that supply or
• where an error or omission has occurred in respect of the particulars required to be contained in a tax invoice.

Effective date unclear
There seems to be some confusion as to when this proposed amendment will come into effect. The actual proposed amendment states that it will come into effect on 1 January 2013 and apply to supplies made on or after that date. However, the draft explanatory memorandum indicates that it will apply to all supplies made by a vendor on or after the date of promulgation of this Bill as per general principles.

At this stage, these are only proposed amendments and SARS will consider all comments received prior to promulgation of the Bill. We recommend that vendors refrain from issuing credit or debit notes based on any reasons other than those currently allowable under the VAT Act, until such time that there is clarity from SARS regarding the effective date and the additional allowable reasons.

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Draft regulations published for the administration of the Automotive Production Development Programme (APDP)
By Wian de Bruyn, Associate Director ? Customs and Excise, Grant Thornton Johannesburg

The APDP will replace the current Motor Industry Development Programme (MIDP) on 1 January 2013. The APDP will focus on local production volumes, whereas the MIDP focused on export volumes. In general, the aim of the APDP is to create additional employment in the motor and component industries that will lead to economic growth in South Africa.

The long awaited APDP draft regulations and information documents were published in the Government Gazette on 29 June 2012 for comments by relevant stakeholders.

A new rebate item 317.03 will be created for the APDP in Schedule No 3 of the Customs and Excise Act, No 91 of 1964. The declaration of foreign currency usage, form DA190 of the MIDP will be changed to the form C1 under the APDP. The role of form C1 will be the same as the current form DA190.

Comments on the draft regulations and information document should reach the International Trade Administration Committee of South Africa (ITAC) by 27 July 2012.

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Tags: 2012, AJ Jansen van Nieuwenhuizen, APDP, Automotive Production Development Programme, Capital gains tax, CGT, Cliff Watson, e-taxline, Grant Thornton tax experts, Incentives, Income Tax Act, ITAC, Kathy Dixon, MIDP, R&D, Research and Development Tax Incentives, Residential property, SARS, Transfer duty, VAT, Wian de Bruyn

Source: http://www.budget2011.co.za/2012/07/e-taxline-incentives-relief-and-opportunities/

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