You hated it didn't you? So why pass it on? Probably because you just didn't know what to get them. In today's fast-paced world, we hardly have time - or take time - to listen to what our family and friends really want.

Or we half-listen and think we're on to something. Your wife complains microwave is on fritz all year. But do you think she wants to find a kitchen appliance under tree? And really, does your husband need yet another color-coordinated shirt and tie?

So what's a clueless gift-giver to do?

First, tune in. Listen to what your loved ones say they want, they wish for, they'd like to have someday.

Second, understand gender differences. Men and women don't generally desire same types of gifts. Most women like jewelry, for example, but only some men wear jewelry, many do not. Not everyone is same, of course, so make sure you know taste and style of person you're buying gift for.

Third, don't confuse personal gifts with business gifts. A man shouldn't give a ring or "eau de sexy nights" cologne to his female colleague. She's bound to take it wrong way.

Finally, if all else fails, just follow this simple gift-giving guide:

For her: Women want to feel pretty, no matter how old we get. My 70+ year-old mother still slathers on scented lotion and dusting powder after a bath. Bath and body oils or a spa basket, which can include fragrant soaps, lotion and bath gels are always a good choice. Or buy her one of her favorite fragrances. Many come in gift sets, coupled with scented lotion or soap. And please, don't forget jewelry!

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.