Letters to the Editor February 17, 2013 Fiscal failure [RE: High inflation is denting recovery: The Bank of England must act now, Thursday] Andrew Sentance makes some very good points. Quantitative easing (QE) has resulted in inflation. As an importer of wine, buying mainly in euros, weaker sterling affects my prices directly and we have no choice but to pass these on [...]
Tax cheat ban on state deals questioned February 14, 2013 LAWYERS yesterday raised concerns over plans to ban companies that have taken part in aggressive tax avoidance schemes from bidding for large government contracts. Ministers said the rules, which are due to come into effect at the start of April, will force businesses who want Whitehall contracts worth more than £2m to disclose whether HMRC [...]
County court case thrown out February 11, 2013 FOOTBALL: Notts County say they will seek legal advice as they look to claim damages against HMRC after a winding-up petition over late payment of a tax bill was thrown out of court.
Firms urged to prepare for real-time PAYE February 10, 2013 BUSINESSES have just eight weeks to prepare for the biggest overhaul to the pay-as-you-earn (PAYE) tax system in almost 70 years, HM Revenue and Customs has warned today. The tax authority said it will be writing to almost 1.5m employers from this week to remind them of the new real-time information (RTI) system replacing year-end [...]
What the other papers say this morning February 5, 2013 FINANCIAL TIMES Turner defends permanent printing Lord Turner, outgoing chairman of the Financial Services Authority, has launched an impassioned defence of financing government spending by printing money, arguing that within limits it “absolutelym definitely [does] not lead to inflation. Speaking ahead of a valedictory speech in London today, Lord Turner, who applied to be the [...]
Tax bosses say Starbucks has not been abusing the system February 4, 2013 STARBUCKS’ tax arrangements are perfectly legitimate under international tax rules and do not represent abuses of the system, tax heads from HM Revenue and Customs (HMRC) and the Treasury said yesterday. The coffee chain had come in for criticism for recording no UK profits and so not paying corporation tax in Britain, despite large sales [...]
Recession and higher tax taking toll on Britain’s top earners February 3, 2013 The rich are getting poorer. Yes, you read that right. The top one per cent of income taxpayers – an individual needs to earn £150,000 per year to qualify – will account for 11.7 per cent of total taxable income this year, down from 12.2 per cent in 2011-12. Their income share peaked at 13.9 [...]
Big four tax bosses defend their firms during grilling from MPs January 31, 2013 TAX heads at the big four accountancy firms clashed with MPs yesterday over their role in helping large companies to reduce their tax bills. Margaret Hodge, who chairs the public accounts committee, called for PwC, KPMG, Deloitte and Ernst & Young to be banned from doing work for the government in light of the loopholes [...]
Letters to the editor January 31, 2013 The Nordic model [Re: How Sweden reformed its state to lay the foundations for future growth, yesterday] All those on the left who look to Sweden as the ideal society should read this article. The common image of a socialist nation, with all-encompassing state provision, needs refining. Not only is Sweden weathering this recession better [...]
HSBC on hiring spree to beef up crime team January 30, 2013 HSBC yesterday hired more ex-regulators to set up a new unit to fight crime in a drive to show it is striving to clean up its tarnished image. The bank paid fines totalling $1.9bn (£1.2bn) to settle accusations lax money laundering controls allowed drugs gangs and terrorists to funnel money through the institution. Its new [...]