Five million to pay 40p tax rate in 2014 March 22, 2012 ONE-IN-SEVEN workers will pay the higher rate of income tax by 2014 thanks to George Osborne’s changes to the tax brackets, according to estimates from a leading think-tank. Five million people will be in the 40p tax bracket in 2013-14 – a rise of 1.3m from 3.7m in 2011, the Institute for Fiscal Studies (IFS) [...]
Glaxo reveals new factory but asks for more breaks March 22, 2012 GLAXOSMITHKLINE yesterday unveiled plans to invest more than £500m in its UK sites, including a new factory, in light of tax breaks revealed in the Budget. And the firm said it would double its investment at the new biopharmaceutical plant in Ulverston – but only if the government “improv[es] the environment for innovation”. Speaking just a [...]
Big families hit hardest by child benefit reforms March 22, 2012 CHANGES to the way child benefit is paid means that larger families will suffer a faster fall in income than those with just one child. Research by the Institute for Fiscal Studies (IFS) said George’s Osborne’s decision to remove child benefit “gradually” from families where one parent earned more than £50,000, meant those with more [...]
Pensioners in protest over Budget cuts March 22, 2012 GEORGE Osborne was forced to defend his “granny tax” Budget yesterday after pensioners’ groups attacked his “outrageous assault” on older people. The chancellor (pictured) said pensioners would be “better off” despite his shock decision to phase out their age-related allowances, first introduced by Winston Churchill in 1925. Saga boss Ros Altmann criticised the move, at a [...]
Storage tax to backfire March 22, 2012 BIG Yellow Group’s stock plunged four per cent on the Budget’s surprise announcement that self-storage units could from October no longer be exempt from value added tax. In the name of correcting VAT anomalies and closing loopholes, Osborne outlined that self-storage will be taxed as other forms of storage and no longer be classed as [...]
WHAT DO YOU THINK OF VAT BEING ADDED TO HOT TAKEAWAY ITEMS?* March 22, 2012 MELISSA CARSTENS | MIZUHO “At the moment, prices have been going up anyway. It’s a treat getting pasties and hot sandwiches, so people will probably continue to look at it as non-essential and stop buying it so frequently.” KAT ROSTAMI | CALVIN KLEIN “I think the addition of the VAT will deter some people from [...]
Government to ban cheap alcohol sales March 22, 2012 THE GOVERNMENT will today announce the introduction of a minimum price for alcohol as part of measures that aim to reduce the social impact of excessive drinking. New legislation will force retailers to charge a minimum of 40p per unit of alcohol. Prime Minister David Cameron has also promised to ban bulk-buy discount deals in [...]
Analysts blame Mervyn King for economy’s credit drought March 22, 2012 THE BANK of England is creating a “corrosive” environment for credit, according to analysts at UBS, while its claim that regulations are not to blame for choking off lending “holds no water”, they said. Respected banking analysts John-Paul Crutchley and Alastair Ryan accuse BoE governor Mervyn King of failing to recognise that if bank shares do [...]
Morgan Stanley loses corporate broker Cochran to BG Group March 22, 2012 MORGAN Stanley is losing Alistair Cochran from its UK corporate broking team. He is joining the exploration group BG to head up its mergers and acquisitions department. Cochran joined Morgan Stanley in 2004 from Credit Suisse along with Alisdair Gayne, as the US bank looked to build out its corporate broking franchise. A managing director, [...]
UPBEAT NIKE TARGETS MORE GROWTH March 22, 2012 NIKE headed into the spring quarter with strong demand and improving margin trends, as the top sportswear retailer forecast a strong year with plans to cash in on the Olympics. The firm saw futures orders for delivery from March through July rise 15 per cent, with chief executive Mark Parker (above) saying he is optimistic about [...]
