Foreign firms get no special tax treatment, say lawyers August 27, 2012 FOREIGN-OWNED firms are linked to almost half of HMRC’s investigations into large companies’ tax bills, according to lawyers. Pinsent Masons reckons the figures rubbish claims that revenue-collecting authorities adopt a light touch approach to chasing inwardly investing companies for their tax contributions. HMRC investigates levels of tax that the 770 largest businesses in the UK [...]
International money bolsters central London property boom August 27, 2012 INTERNATIONAL cash is flooding into the London property market, as foreign buyers capitalise on weak sterling, a report released today by Cluttons claims. The property consultants predict a 3.2 per cent annual increase in prime central London house prices, driven by cash buyers – in turn driven by the weak pound. Compared to the 2007 [...]
Fewest manufacturers since 2007 find rising credit costs August 27, 2012 THE PROPORTION of factories reporting rising costs of credit has fallen to its lowest rate since 2007, an industry group has revealed today. The EEF hopes that its latest survey marks a turning point in the cost of borrowing for manufacturers in the UK. The balance of companies in the sector finding an increase in [...]
Private wage hikes easing August 27, 2012 SLOWER inflation may be behind a slight easing in private sector wage increases, Incomes Data Services reported this morning. The median pay award in the three months to July slipped to 2.5 per cent, down 0.5 per cent. The retail price index fell from 5.6 per cent last September to 2.8 per cent in June [...]
City Moves Who’s switching jobs August 27, 2012 British Retail Consortium The BRC has appointed Ian Cheshire as chairman, taking over the two-year post from Rob Templeman on 1 October. Cheshire has been chief executive of Kingfisher since January 2008 and an executive director since June 2000. He has also been a non-executive director of Whitbread since February 2011. He serves as a [...]
Best of the Brokers August 27, 2012 TULLOW OIL Morgan Stanley reiterates its “overweight” rating on Tullow Oil. It believes the shares are undervalued given Tullow has opened three new oil regions in the past year. Development concerns are “overdone”, it says. RESTAURANT GROUP Panmure Gordon increases its target price to 375p from 327p and reiterates its “buy” rating ahead of Friday’s [...]
London report August 27, 2012 MARKET watchers will be looking to tomorrow’s Nationwide house prices report and mortgage approvals on Thursday to gauge whether the UK’s economy is pulling out of its double dip. Recent data put the number of mortgage approvals at a 15-year low and last month house prices had fallen by 0.7 per cent and 2.6 per [...]
Apple on a high after court win August 27, 2012 US stocks were barely changed in light volume yesterday as investors waited for signs from central banks about stimulating the weak economy, though Apple’s shares hit a record high after a major court victory. Apple rose two per cent to $676.56 after the iPad maker won a $1bn judgment in a patent lawsuit against Samsung [...]
Taxation shouldn’t be determined by subjective opinions of fairness August 27, 2012 THE Treasury’s latest consultation – Ensuring the Fair Taxation of UK Residential Property Transactions – has just closed. We responded to it, and disagreed not only with the substance of the policies, but also the way in which the consultation was framed around the vaguest of concepts: “fairness”. The main proposal is for a graduated [...]
Misinformed public remain confused by the debt and deficit August 27, 2012 THE coalition’s plans for the public finances seem doomed to fail. Both parties came into office pledging to eliminate the current structural deficit in five years, and for the debt-to-GDP ratio to be falling by the end of the Parliament. In effect, this meant faster deficit reduction than the Labour party had outlined under Gordon [...]
