Investment tax break hits record as UK companies go for growth February 15, 2015 UK BUSINESSES will invest a record £2.8bn this year under the Annual Investment Allowance, as firms look to grow after years of underinvestment, commercial finance group LDF said yesterday. Introduced in 2008, the Annual Investment Allowance allows businesses making capital investments to claim a deduction of up to £500,000 from their taxable profits. HMRC has [...]
The government wasted £5.1bn last year – and £6m was on unusable earplugs February 15, 2015 Last year, the government apparently wasted £5.1bn on pointless projects and avoidable errors, with the Ministry of Defence being the biggest culprit of all. The department's £3.07bn losses included £4m on inventory for Sea King helicopters no longer in use, and £6m on earplugs found to be “not fit for purpose”. It also [...]
General Election 2015: Ed Miliband promises review of HMRC after HSBC tax avoidance row February 14, 2015 Labour has set its sights on the tax inspector, promising a “root and branch” review of HMRC following criticism of the investigation it made into tax avoidance which came to light from the HSBC Swiss bank leaks. Miliband made the pledge speaking at the Welsh Labour Conference in Swansea as the issue of tax avoidance [...]
HSBC boss Stuart Gulliver memo: “Sometimes we failed to live up to standards expected by society” February 13, 2015 HSBC boss Stuart Gulliver has admitted in a memo to the bank's staff that it failed to live up to expectations, after it was accused of helping thousands of customers of its Swiss private banking arm to evade tax. Reuters reported today that the memo also indicated he had been called to give evidence to "lawmakers". [...]
HSBC bosses Douglas Flint and Lin Homer to face parliament over Swiss tax evasion unit February 12, 2015 HSBC’s chairman will face MPs this month to explain what the bank has done to stop its Swiss unit helping customers to evade taxes. Douglas Flint has been summoned by the Treasury Select Committee, along with HMRC boss Lin Homer. The bank and the taxman have faced a storm of criticism this week on [...]
Lord Fink’s “vanilla” tax avoidance: What does it mean, and how is it different from HSBC’s alleged practices? February 12, 2015 Tory peer Lord Fink has admitted avoiding paying tax while working in Geneva, but says his actions were “vanilla” in nature and that he was not involvement in the allegations currently plaguing the Swiss arm of HSBC. The former hedge fund manager is a client of the bank, which came under fire earlier [...]
Treasury Select Committee to launch HSBC tax inquiry as HMRC calls in the police February 12, 2015 The Treasury Select Committee has confirmed it will launch an inquiry into HSBC's Swiss private bank. The committee, headed by Conservative MP Andrew Tyrie, will take oral evidence from both the bank and HMRC executives as it attempts to get to the bottom of the hot potato issue that has dominated this week. Tyrie [...]
Taxman gives leaked HSBC data to the police and fraud squad February 11, 2015 MORE tax dodgers could face prosecution as HM Revenue and Customs (HMRC) yesterday said it would give a trove of leaked data to the police. MPs rowed viciously with tax officials over the case, which involved information from HSBC’s Swiss private banking arm. HMRC has raised £135m for the exchequer, but only prosecuted one tax evader. [...]
PMQs descends into mud-slinging match as Cameron and Miliband attempt to distance themselves from HSBC tax taint February 11, 2015 HSBC dominated Prime Minister's Questions today as David Cameron and Ed Miliband traded insults over which party had closest ties to those clients on the list of alleged tax evaders. The two took turns to sling mud at each other over the matter, with the Labour leader describing his counterpart as a "dodgy Prime [...]
Politicians slam HMRC and FCA for HSBC tax evasion failure February 10, 2015 Senior MPs criticised the Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) and Revenue and Customs (HMRC) yesterday, after it was revealed the FCA was unaware of the wrongdoing at HSBC, and that HMRC had failed to pass on its concerns to the City watchdog. The chairman of the FCA, Martin Wheatley, made a pre-arranged appearance in front of [...]