HMRC pays out its highest ever amount to tax whistleblowers June 14, 2015 HMRC paid a record amount to tax informants in the year ending 31 March, City law firm RPC said today. The state tax collector paid out £605,000, up 50 per cent on the previous year. Experts suggest it is because of increased awareness of the rewards available for information. “HMRC does not widely publicise the [...]
Management consultants make the case for UK staying in the EU June 14, 2015 A group of management consultants will say this morning that its industry is thriving on the back of the UK’s economic growth. Fee income for members of the Management Consultancies Association (MCA) jumped 8.4 per cent to £5.2bn last year, the organisation will reveal. It estimates that for the whole UK consulting industry, fee income [...]
Germany warns of Grexit with EU patience “running out” June 14, 2015 Germany's economy minister and vice-chancellor Sigmar Gabriel has warned Greece that its exit from the euro is becoming increasingly likely. In a Bild magazine column, Gabriel argued that EU countries were losing patience with slow-moving talks between Greece and its creditors. Gabriel wrote: Everywhere in Europe, the sentiment is growing that enough is enough. The [...]
EU officials hold first talks on Greek default June 13, 2015 Senior Eurozone officials have met to discuss the possibility of a Greek default for the first time, according to media reports. Sources told Reuters that they had talked about a number of scenarios in Bratislava, Slovakia yesterday, including a potential default on the €1.6bn (£1.2bn) payment the cash-strapped country must make to the International Monetary Fund (IMF) at [...]
UK outlook slashed to negative by Standard & Poor’s over EU referendum risk June 12, 2015 Standard and Poor's has revised the UK's credit rating from "stable" to "negative" due to the government's promises of an EU referendum in 2017. S&P said the decision to hold an EU referendum represents a risk to the UK's economic growth – particularly to its financial services and exports sectors – and "raises questions" about [...]
Britain likely to exit deflation next week June 12, 2015 Economists have said that official data due to be released next week will likely show Britain escaped from a brief period of technical deflation last month. They think that prices could have risen slightly in May due to higher fuel prices, alongside increases in the cost of air/sea transport, and holiday prices. Inflation turned fell by [...]
Bank of England’s Ian McCafferty says time for interest rate rise nearing June 12, 2015 Bank of England official Ian McCafferty has said the time for an interest rate hike is drawing closer, with the factors keeping a lid on inflation are expected to fade "as we move into next year". "The economy is starting to return to more normal conditions, after arguably the biggest shock in over a hundred [...]
Getting the right person for the right job: LinkedIn could add £1.7 trillion to the world’s economy June 12, 2015 You may sometimes wonder why you build up your LinkedIn connections (see number six from this article) but a new study argues social media jobs platforms could add $2.7 trillion (£1.7 trillion) to the economy. McKinsey Global Institute's latest report “a labour market that works” found that “online talent platforms” such as LinkedIn and [...]
UK house prices: Stamp duty payments have fallen by half since George Osborne introduced reforms, but Londoners are missing out June 12, 2015 The amount property buyers are paying in stamp duty has halved since George Osborne introduced new measures aimed at making homes more affordable in the last Budget – but Londoners are massively missing out on those savings, new research has found. A study by the Post Office and the Centre for Economics and Business Research [...]
IMF pessimism on Greece cools hot day for markets June 11, 2015 A strong day for European markets came to an abrupt end yesterday as one of Greece’s creditors said there had been “no progress” in recent negotiations with the country. Greece is currently trying to secure a cash-for-reforms bailout deal to stave off bankruptcy. “We are well away from an agreement,” a spokesman for the International [...]