Osborne’s plan to cut fuel bills December 2, 2013 CHANCELLOR George Osborne has pledged that the government will waive the cost of some green levies currently paid for through energy bills, in a bid to ease political pressure and save the public money. The move is expected to cut energy bills by £50 a year per household, with the cost now met instead through [...]
Spreadbetters fight back over new tax claims November 28, 2013 SPREAD betting firms fought back yesterday after the Treasury said it would discuss the tax exemption of spread betting following concerns raised in the House of Lords. Labour peer Lord Eatwell accused spread betting of being “a really extraordinary form of tax avoidance within the financial services industry”. As a result, Lord Newby, the Treasury [...]
Analysts look to Osborne speech for giveaways November 28, 2013 UK ECONOMISTS laid out the possibilities for chancellor George Osborne’s Autumn statement yesterday, with less than a week to go until his speech. Capital Economics, PwC, BDO and IHS Global Insight issued their own expectations for the announcement, which will set the course for the government’s economic policies in the months ahead. Most expect the coalition [...]
Letters to the Editor – 26/11 – Lobbying airports, State banking, Best of Twitter November 25, 2013 Lobbying airports [Re: Why low cost carriers and hub buster planes make Gatwick the UK’s future, yesterday] The main problem with Stewart Wingate’s argument is his approach to state planning: “Out to the 2040s, there is only enough demand for one new runway.” But in the case of London’s airports, there is no good reason why Gatwick [...]
There is nothing worse than self-righteousness in business November 21, 2013 REMEMBER the righteous folk telling us that the problem with banking was all those nasty, profit making global corporations, with their horrid shareholders and especially those awful hedge funds? And that the answer was to encourage small, regional co-operatives, with their senior management drawn from a broader cross-section of the community to boost corporate governance? [...]
UK recovery is built on a debt bubble that cannot last – it’s time for change November 19, 2013 RELIEF over recent economic data is over-done. Even if we are seeing pockets of growth in specific regions and sectors of the UK, it is far from clear that the structural imbalances in Britain’s economy have been addressed. In the last few years, the West has seen a number of financial crises of escalating seriousness, [...]
There is nothing worse than self-righteousness in business November 18, 2013 REMEMBER the righteous folk telling us that the problem with banking was all those nasty, profit making global corporations, with their horrid shareholders and especially those awful hedge funds? And that the answer was to encourage small, regional co-operatives, with their senior management drawn from a broader cross-section of the community to boost corporate governance? [...]
Clegg mulls tax for property owners living outside the UK November 18, 2013 PEOPLE living outside the UK and investing in British property do not pay enough tax, deputy prime minister Nick Clegg said yesterday, hinting at a crack down on overseas cash in next month’s Autumn Statement. House prices in London are rising at around 10 per cent a year. While most buyers across the market are UK-based, [...]
Letters to the Editor – 19/11 – UK entrepreneurs, Best of Twitter November 18, 2013 UK entrepreneurs [Re: Entrepreneurs now have their own pressure group – at last, yesterday] Our recent G20 Entrepreneurship Barometer found that, while the UK is one of the top five countries to be an entrepreneur (with a competitive tax system and business-friendly regulation), we still have close to the lowest score for “co-ordinated support”. The 130 finalists of [...]
Tech powerhouse who wants to save our ailing high street November 10, 2013 Annabel Palmer meets Dan Wagner, back in the limelight with latest venture Powa Technologies HE may be one of Britain’s most prominent tech entrepreneurs, but Dan Wagner has had more than his share of career ups and downs and scathing headlines. In the 1980s, he was subject to criticism from the financial community for his [...]