Turbo-charge your portfolio by investing in rising dividends November 5, 2013 But investors should also keep a close eye on valuations ONE OF the simplest ways of accelerating long-term capital growth is the old trick of reinvesting dividends. According to BlackRock, £100 invested in a FTSE All-Share index fund in 1987 would have been worth almost £900 at the end of 2012 with dividends reinvested, compared [...]
Treasury to tax overseas buyers of UK property October 31, 2013 GEORGE Osborne is considering a tax raid on overseas investors who own British property, it was reported yesterday, in an attempt to raise millions of pounds. The plan would require non-UK-based real estate owners to pay capital gains tax (CGT) on British property, according to Sky News. At the moment only UK residents pay the tax to HMRC. Many [...]
Chancellor considers taxing foreign home owners in bid to curb bubble October 31, 2013 The UK is considering imposing new taxes on foreign property owners in a move to check what many see as an emerging housing bubble in London and the South East, reports Sky News' economics editor, Ed Conway. Chancellor George Osborne is investigating the possibility of enforcing capital gains tax on foreign owners of British properties [...]
Credit Suisse slashes costs to boost earnings October 24, 2013 CREDIT Suisse will slash spending on its interest trading arm, the investment bank said yesterday, as revenues at the unit fell in the third quarter. The Swiss bank saw profits jump sharply in the quarter, but the gains came from cost cutting rather than improved revenues. Net income rose to SFr454m (£314.5m), up 79 per [...]
Ophir confirms plans to sell off Tanzanian asset October 24, 2013 AFRICA-FOCUSED oil explorer Ophir Energy soared to the top of the FTSE 250 yesterday, after the firm confirmed that it is looking to sell part of its Tanzanian assets. “We’re not surprised by the sale, due to the extent of the Tanzania project in terms of capital,” Kate Sloan, analyst at Liberum Capital, told City [...]
Eurozone consumer confidence creeps up to highest reading since July 2011 October 23, 2013 Consumer confidence improved marginally in the Euro area in October, with a flash estimate of -14.5, after September's -14.9. This is the 11th month on the trot to see a gain, and the reading is its highest since July 2011. It remained unchanged in the EU at 11.7. Berenberg's Christian Schulz says: "the indicator is [...]
Osborne warns the deficit remains a major threat October 22, 2013 THE UK’S budget deficit shrank again in September, official figures showed yesterday, but the chancellor warned it will take a sustained policy drive to remove the underlying problems in the government’s finances. In September the deficit came in at £11.1bn, or £1bn smaller than the same month a year earlier. Tax receipts increased seven per [...]
China’s astonishing growth trajectory holds few lessons for democratic Britain October 21, 2013 I’VE SEEN the future and it works.” That was US journalist Lincoln Steffers’s message after visiting the Soviet Union in the 1920s. It’s worth remembering how wrong he turned out to be. Why? George Osborne and Boris Johnson have just come back from China, and they’ll be tempted to use the impressive things they’ve seen [...]
Civil servants discussed cap on Isa savings October 13, 2013 CIVIL servants have explored the possibility of imposing a cap on the amount of money that can be held in an Isa, the Treasury confirmed yesterday. Officials held talks with leading financial services companies in recent months to discuss whether wealthy individuals should continue to benefit from holding substantial savings that will never be subject [...]
A single income tax would simplify our excessively convoluted system October 7, 2013 TAX simplification is back on the agenda, thanks to Simon Walker, director general of the Institute of Directors. Highlighting combined marginal rates of child benefit withdrawal and income tax of 73 per cent for those with four children earning between £50,000 and £60,000 a year, Walker called for radically simpler taxes. “I am all for [...]