briefs

Diminishing returns

The Inland Revenue's proposed system for lodging tax returns electronically is fundamentally flawed, according to the tax faculty of the Institute of Chartered Accountants. The IR believes that only allowing limited disclosure to be made will not be a problem, but the institute says its members will be put at risk if they cannot make full disclosure of their clients' affairs.

Unchanging revalues

Companies have hardly changed their methods of revaluing their properties since the Queens Moat Houses affair brought fresh scepticism over the practice, according to the Edinburgh-based accounts monitor Company Reporting. The organisation also says that the number of companies deferring revaluations has increased.

Key move

David Clark, former head of the IT audit department at Touche Ross and founding chairman of the Institute of Chartered Accountants' tax faculty, has joined Robson Rhodes as a partner heading the firm's services in computer and systems assurance.

Inventors beware

The Patent Office is warning inventors not to disclose their ideas before either taking professional advice or stipulating a binding and specific confidentiality agreement, or filing a patent with it. Inventors who disclose details of their invention before filing will not be able to get a valid patent.

Where there's a will ...

Hampshire solicitors White & Bowker are marking National Make A Will Week, which takes place from 16 to 22 October, by launching a mobile "Wills on Wheels" campaign to raise public awareness of the need to make a will.

Journalist of the year

Stephen Ward, legal affairs correspondent of the Independent, has been named Newspaper Journalist of the Year by the Bar Council.