Trust a trust to protect your child’s education November 25, 2012 SINCE 2002, private school fees have risen at 1.8 times the rate of inflation. The average cost today is £11,500 per year, up from £6,800 in 2002. Private education is becoming more of a luxury, and it may be a good idea to find a more innovative solution than relying on your Christmas bonus. A [...]
A technology revolution is empowering investors November 25, 2012 EXECUTIVE CHAIRMAN, GEKKO INVESTMENT platforms came about because switched-on providers realised that the more choice investors were given, and the more they understood the wisdom of diversifying their investments, something needed to be done to simplify the whole investment process. More choice and greater diversification meant investors had to deal with a host of detailed [...]
Our bureaucratic tax system is destroying jobs and growth November 21, 2012 If you are a glass half full type of person, the news that the UK’s tax system is now the 16th “best” in the world, rather the 18th, might be something to rejoice about. I prefer to despair about the complex and arbitrary nature of our tax code, about the fact that we were 11th [...]
Banks are part of the solution: They’re the lifeblood of UK economic growth November 21, 2012 WHEN it comes to the economy, banks are usually seen as the problem – as the ones that got us in this mess. But banks are also part of the solution. It is not just that financial services is a major sector of the economy – one of the few sectors where the UK is [...]
Fresh allegations overshadow welcome cultural shift in City November 20, 2012 LET us hope yesterday won’t eventually be remembered as another disastrous day for the City of London. Hewlett Packard’s inflammatory attack on the accounts of Autonomy, the UK tech giant it now owns, is either a wrong-headed attempt by a struggling US firm to try and justify why it failed to do its due diligence [...]
Boris slams plans for property tax as stamp duty hits market November 19, 2012 BORIS JOHNSON yesterday slammed Liberal Democrat politicians who are calling for property tax hikes, while urging Google and other companies criticised for tax avoidance to do more to benefit the UK. “It is absurd to be suddenly whacking up taxes on cash-poor people who happen to inhabit expensive houses in London when firms like Google [...]
UK shares have year’s biggest one day rise on hopes of US fiscal plan November 19, 2012 UK shares matched their biggest one day rise of the year yesterday, recovering some of last week’s steep falls, as optimism that US lawmakers will forge a fiscal compromise encouraged traders to buy at the lower prices. The FTSE 100 index was up 132.07 points, or 2.4 per cent, at 5,767.66 by the close. Leading [...]
Wall St up on housing and high earnings November 19, 2012 US stocks bounced higher for a second consecutive session yesterday as investors were encouraged by the early atmosphere surrounding talks to tackle the nation’s fiscal crunch. The Dow Jones industrial average gained 207.65 points, or 1.65 per cent, at 12,795.96. The Standard & Poor’s 500 Index was up 27.01 points, or 1.99 per cent, at [...]
We must ditch unfair loopholes – and then cut tax overall November 19, 2012 BRITAIN’S corporation tax system is broken. It is arbitrary, opaque, incomprehensible and unfair. At best, it is uncompetitive compared with other countries, such as Ireland; at worst it is a complete nightmare of complications and distorted incentives. Britain’s tax system is one of the worst things about the UK: It needs to be smashed up [...]
We must ditch unfair loopholes – and then cut tax overall November 18, 2012 BRITAIN’S corporation tax system is broken. It is arbitrary, opaque, incomprehensible and unfair. At best, it is uncompetitive compared with other countries, such as Ireland; at worst it is a complete nightmare of complications and distorted incentives. Britain’s tax system is one of the worst things about the UK: It needs to be smashed up [...]