One of oldest herbs in world and is now grown all over world is also one of greatest toxin removal systems around as well as illness and disease preventor… PARSLEY

And you thought it was just to decorate your plate. Not so, next time restaurant puts a sprig of parsley on you dinner plate, eat it!

Parsley originated in Eastern Mediterranean region but is now grown throughout world. For more than 2,000 years, it has been known as a medicinal herb. The ancient Greeks valued seeds and roots of plant for their soothing, diuretic effect on those with kidney and bladder ailments. Today parsley is still used primarily as a diuretic. In addition, it strengthens digestive system and helps alleviate stomach and liver problems. In folk medicine, parsley is recommended for women who have irregular menstrual periods. As a diuretic, it may also ease bloating that some women experience before their periods. In addition, parsley leaves are a good source of many vitamins and minerals - including iron, which is important for proper formation of red blood cells, potassium and vitamin C.

The Medieval German herbalist St Hildegard of Bingen prescribed parsley wine to improve blood circulation. It was believed to help heart conditions. To make parsley wine, combine 10 - 12 large sprigs of parsley with 1 quart of red or white wine and 2 teaspoons of white-wine vinegar. Boil for 10 minutes then add 9 ounces of honey. Strain mixture and pour into bottles. Take 1 Tbsp. Three times a day.

This herb supplies important vitamins and minerals, for instance, just ¼ cup of fresh parsley provides a third of your daily vitamin C requirement. It's high vitamin C and A content also help fight cancer. Parsley ranks higher than most vegetable in bistidine an amino acid that inhibits tumors. In addition, parsley is an excellent source of potassium, which is important in lowering blood pressure. Also supplies folic acid, which helps prevent cardiovascular disease. It also contains calcium, manganese and iron.

The answer is that from a tax point of view, it is advantageous to trade through a limited company as long as income is drawn from company by owners as dividends from their shares and amount of dividends drawn is restricted below 40% band rate (i.e. œ31,063 for tax year 2002/03). That way, owners have no further personal tax ("income tax") to pay. Moreover, dividends are not subject to national insurance contributions. This is excellent news of course. But, if dividend income falls within higher rate bracket of income tax (i.e. above œ34,515), they will be taxed at 22.5% on excess, which of course will increase tax burden. The company profits are subject to corporation tax rates. Those are lower than income tax rates.

The most catastrophic scenario is when director takes his reward from company as salary. Then his/her salary is taxed at income tax rates (like a sole trader's income). That is because, unlike sole traders, tax system treats companies as separate from their owners because a company is a separate legal entity. The problem is that income taxes are higher than corporation tax rates. On top of that, they will be subject to employee and employer national insurance contributions, which of course increase tax burden and render his position worse than even an unincorporated business ("sole trader"), because NIC Class 1 on payroll are higher than NIC Class 2 paid by self employed.

In contrast, a self employed person ("sole trader") is taxed at income tax rates on profits from his business, which are added to his other sources of income. As it has already been mentioned, income tax rates are overall higher than corporation tax rates. On top of income tax, national insurance contributions class 4 are payable on business profits within a specified band (7% on profits between œ4,615and œ30,420). National insurance contributions Class 2 are also paid by self-employed people, although those are lower than those payable by company directors on their salaries.

To illustrate above, let's take a simple example. We have a limited company and a sole trader. They both make œ60,000 profits each in tax year 2002/03. We assume that company director takes a salary equal to amount of his personal allowances (untaxed income) of œ4,615 and balance as dividends. The company will pay corporation tax at 19% equal to œ10,523 and nothing else. The sole trader will pay income tax œ16,542, National insurance Class 2 œ104 and National insurance Class 4 œ1,806. Total œ18,452. The bottom line is that person that has incorporated his business into a limited company will make a tax saving of œ7,929 compared to a sole trader! Isn't that fantastic?

Somebody might be wondering: why is this entire happening? The official explanation is that, this government, to help economy grow, encourages people to leave as much profits within their businesses to be reinvested, instead of being taken out and spent.