David Gauke: Questions need to be answered about HSBC tax evasion accusations February 9, 2015 The financial secretary to the Treasury David Gauke has defended HMRC amid claims it “overlooked” tax evasion in the wake of allegations about HSBC – but said there are “clearly questions that need to answered” about the bank's actions. Gauke was today challenged by Labour MP for Birmingham Ladywood Shabana Mahmood, who wanted to [...]
HMRC faces HSBC tax evasion grilling in parliament after it is revealed Swiss arm helped clients hide millions February 9, 2015 Tax bosses will be grilled by MPs on Wednesday over a swathe of leaked HSBC documents showing the bank's Swiss arm helped clients around the world dodge taxes. But HSBC's bosses will avoid a public hearing, because it is too close to the election to schedule new hearings. Margaret Hodge MP chairs the Public Accounts [...]
HSBC rocked by report into tax evasion scheme February 8, 2015 HSBC’s Swiss private banking arm helped wealthy customers evade millions of pounds in tax, documents have revealed. The files, which relate to accounts holding more than $100bn, show how the UK’s biggest bank helped clients evade tax, even collaborating with some to hide undeclared “black” accounts from their domestic tax authorities. Thousands of pages of [...]
Solicitor general denies movie investment is for tax avoidance February 8, 2015 SOLICITOR general Robert Buckland QC MP is facing questions after it emerged he is a partner in a film investment scheme currently being investigated by HMRC. The Conservative MP for South Swindon denies that he invested in order to receive the tax breaks available to some film investors. Buckland, who has been a partner in [...]
PwC rejects Margaret Hodge’s claims that it promotes “tax avoidance on an industrial scale” February 6, 2015 PwC has rejected the findings of the Public Accounts Committee, which has accused the financial services firm of promoting “tax avoidance on an industrial scale”. The committee, led by Labour MP Margaret Hodge, published a report this morning slamming PwC for “artificially diverting profits to Luxembourg through intra-company loans”. She claimed its activities “bear [...]
HMRC to fine 890,000 people for missing self-assessment deadline February 2, 2015 HM Revenue and Customs has said that as many as 890,000 people are facing fines for missing the deadline for submitting self-assessment returns. People who missed the deadline, which was midnight on 31 January, will be £100 out of pocket and even more if they fail to submit a self-assessment form over the course of [...]
Ingenious hits back at tax avoidance criticism of celebrity film investment scheme February 1, 2015 Ingenious has hit back at critics of its film investment scheme after more celebrities were named as having received tax breaks from investing in the plan, through rules brought in by Labour. A spokesman for Ingenious said: “Ingenious film partnerships run by Ingenious Media have already generated over £1bn in taxable income for the UK [...]
City Moves for 30 January 2015 | Who’s switching jobs January 29, 2015 Standard Chartered Aaron Russell-Davison has been appointed head of debt capital markets at the bank. He joined Standard Chartered in 2009, and has worked as head of Asian bond syndicate, global head, bond syndicate, and most recently as head of capital markets, ASEAN. UBS Global Asset Management Rachel Hill has been appointed UK business development [...]
The populist crusade against tax avoidance has turned into an assault on justice January 26, 2015 If “tax avoidance” is the answer, what is the question? For many years it might have been: “what subject excites only a small number of tax lawyers and HMRC officials?” But in the age of attempted deficit reduction, “tax avoidance” – or rather “clamping down on tax avoidance” – is the answer you hear every [...]
Balls hits back at Labour critics of mansion tax January 20, 2015 A ROW erupted in the Labour party yesterday over its key mansion tax proposal. The shadow chancellor Ed Balls insisted that “there’s a tried and tested way to do this. People will be able to get an independent evaluation, which HMRC will use….Of course it will work.” He was forced on to the defensive in [...]