Budget 2016: George Osborne’s speech in full March 16, 2016 George Osborne has just revealed the Budget for 2016. There was good news for businesses with corporation tax being sliced and business rates being reformed – but bad news for smokers and students who hate maths. Mr Deputy Speaker, Today I report on an economy set to grow faster than any other major advanced economy in [...]
This Budget is Osborne’s chance to simplify tax and defend globalisation March 16, 2016 There are two threads – one general, the other highly specific – which I should like to see weaved into the fabric of the chancellor’s Budget statement today. First, a clear defence of globalisation and, second, firm action towards the long overdue merger of income tax and National Insurance. Despite what purists might regard as [...]
Here be digital dragons: Why we’re much better off than the official statistics say March 16, 2016 The oldest surviving map of Britain was created in Canterbury a thousand years ago. Our ancestors had a good idea of how to get around, as the country is depicted in its familiar shape. But understanding of the world outside Western Europe remained sketchy for centuries. The phrase “here be dragons” was allegedly used to [...]
Budget 2016 is Osborne’s chance to reform HMRC’s relationship with business for the better March 15, 2016 Tomorrow's Budget poses a dilemma for the chancellor. Does he follow the habits of chancellors past and raise taxes in the first full Budget of a Parliament, or does he defer tax-raising decisions given the uncertainty of the EU vote on 23 June? Whatever he decides, businesses will be focusing on the much-heralded Business Tax [...]
Budget 2016 predictions: A spread of tax raising measures are coming – from raising capital gains tax to tackling salary sacrifice schemes March 14, 2016 Next week’s Budget looms large as experts are anticipating wide-ranging changes, with chancellor George Osborne tweaking tax to raise revenue and balance the books. Pensions were widely anticipated to be an area of huge upheaval, but Osborne has now delayed plans to fiddle with the system. It’s more likely that lots of niche areas are targeted. [...]
Give business a break: Why the chancellor’s Budget should prioritise stability over radicalism March 14, 2016 The chancellor faces an important choice this week, as he delivers his fourth big fiscal plan in 12 months. It comes down to a choice between yet another radical Budget – with all the uncertainty and disruption that may cause for businesses – or a steadier approach that gives firms and the government itself the [...]
With the Budget looming, has George Osborne missed his chance to balance the books? March 14, 2016 Kallum Pickering, senior UK economist at Berenberg, says Yes. As if he ever had much of a chance in the first place. If the precedent of consistently missing his targets year after year isn’t enough, the numbers speak loud and clear. In the first 10 months of this fiscal year, George Osborne has rattled through 90 [...]
Britain wants to woo US tech entrepreneurs to expand their businesses in London and the UK with SXSW campaign launch by mayor’s office and UKTI March 10, 2016 Britain wants to woo more US tech entrepreneurs and encourage them to set up shop in London and elsewhere in the UK, in a bid to steal the crowns from San Francisco and New York as the hottest tech hotspots in the world. London is the most desirable destination for foreign tech workers in Europe looking to relocate [...]
Bankers’ bonuses: Supreme Court sides with HMRC in appeal against UBS and Deutsche Bank, ruling out scheme designed to avoid income tax March 9, 2016 Bankers may see their bonuses sliced into, as the Supreme Court today sided with HM Revenue & Customs (HMRC), agreeing that taxes could not be avoided when using a special scheme to award employees in shares. UBS and Deutsche Bank set up schemes to pay their bankers discretionary bonuses in redeemable shares in offshore companies. The [...]
As the collapse of Powa shows, fintech can be a dangerous game because the UK’s capital structure is prohibitive to growth March 4, 2016 Another day, another failed fintech business. I don’t say this glibly as it is in my interests to be part of a thriving UK financial technology industry. I do however think that we need to analyse ‘sustainable’ fintech and concentrate on that arena. Companies like Powa Technologies, the payments group, stand out. Powa was at [...]