Tax refunds up as losses mount February 20, 2012 CORPORATION tax refunds rocketed 91 per cent in the five years to March 2010 as businesses offset losses against previous profits, according to research out today from accountancy firms UHY Hacker Young. Refunds hit £9bn in the year, up from £8.7bn in the previous year and £4.7bn in the year to March 2005. The average [...]
Payment via mobile moves a step closer February 20, 2012 THE UK’s largest telecoms companies are making headway in bringing cashless payment via mobile phone to the masses, as the cluster intends to file an application with the European Commission (EC) soon. Orange and T-Mobile (under umbrella group Everything Everywhere) joined forces with Vodafone and O2 parent Telefonica last year with the aim of creating a [...]
Google chairman Schmidt to sell quarter of his stake February 20, 2012 GOOGLE bigwig Eric Schmidt could cash in as much as $1.5bn (£950m) from the sale of a quarter of his stock less than a year after he stepped down as chief executive. Schmidt, now executive chairman of Google, plans to sell 2.4m shares over the next year, shrinking his stake from 2.8 to 2.1 per [...]
Ruling to waive Vodafone’s tax bill is appealed February 20, 2012 VODAFONE’s Indian tax case has reared its head from the coffin it was laid in last month as the country’s income tax department has lodged an appeal against the waiver of a $2.2bn (£1.4bn) tax bill. India’s Supreme Court ruled last month that Vodafone was not required to pay tax on its $11bn acquisition in [...]
SAS AUTHOR FIXES CITY ROLES FOR MILITARY February 20, 2012 THRILLER writer Andy McNab is juggling more than one deadline. When the former SAS hardman is not working on his latest novel – a Channel Tunnel thriller starring his new character Tom Buckingham – McNab is fixing jobs in the City for service leavers as a director of military recruitment agency ForceSelect. McNab, who has [...]
Finances still tight despite inflation dip February 20, 2012 BRITONS’ spending power has continued to fall at the start of 2012, according to a fresh survey, despite a slowdown in inflation. Spending power was 0.9 per cent lower in January than a year earlier, in real terms, research by Lloyds TSB has revealed this morning. This is the equivalent of £100 less to spend [...]
Rising footfall boost for shops February 20, 2012 BRITAIN’S shops have drawn strong crowds over the winter period, according to new data released this morning. Footfall across the UK was up 1.8 per cent across November, December and January, compared to the same period one year earlier. “For the first time in five years December saw footfall up on the previous year as [...]
Asking prices for houses soar by over four per cent February 20, 2012 PRICE tags on houses coming to market have shot up by an eye-watering 4.1 per cent this month, according to Rightmove – partly caused by cash-rich buyers boosting demand in areas such as west London. The sudden surge in asking prices is the sharpest in nearly 10 years, the online estate agent revealed today. The [...]
Entrepreneurs brush off the blues to target profits February 20, 2012 ENTREPRENEURS are increasingly pessimistic about the UK’s economic outlook over the next 12 months, a report has revealed – yet these leading business-builders remain bullish over their own firms’ prospects. Nearly half of a surveyed group of Britain’s leading entrepreneurs expect the economy to deteriorate either slightly or considerably over the coming year, while only [...]
Plain cigarette packets could damage health February 20, 2012 PROPOSALS to remove colours and logos from cigarette packets may do more harm than good, encouraging smugglers and increasing the number of poor quality, illegal cigarettes smoked, according to research out today from the Adam Smith Institute. In the coming weeks the government is expected to announce a consultation on a range of proposals, including [...]
