MPs to examine Starbucks tax October 17, 2012 Two parliamentary committees are due to quiz tax officials about how Starbucks was able to avoid paying tax on £1.2bn of sales since 2009. MPs said reports that showed Starbucks had been telling investors its UK unit was highly profitable while telling UK authorities the unit was loss making, and so not liable for tax, [...]
Whitehall in property overspend October 16, 2012 INEFFICIENT government departments are overspending heavily on office space, a report from the Taxpayers’ Alliance (TPA) claimed today, wasting hundreds of millions of pounds. The Treasury spent £5,324 on property per full-time equivalent worker (FTE), compared to just £1,046 per FTE at Her Majesty’s Revenue and Customs (HMRC), the TPA said, calculating that if all [...]
HMRC tightens screw on expat workers in City October 14, 2012 THE TAXMAN raised an extra £20m from investigations into foreign workers in the City last year compared with two years earlier, by applying the rules more strictly, according to HM Revenue and Customs (HMRC) data analysed by law firm Pinsent Masons. HMRC received £117.2m from its expat team’s compliance work in 2011-12, on top of [...]
Lack of capital and onerous HMRC rules are restraining tech start-ups October 11, 2012 THE chancellor’s announcement this week that employees could get a stake in their companies in exchange for waiving certain employment rights was a rare flash of creativity from the Treasury. But it will come as no surprise if, in a year’s time, the opposition starts impishly asking how many businesses have made use of the [...]
Why bashing the wealthy will not raise tax revenue October 11, 2012 IT’S a curious state of affairs when tax is wielded as a stick with which to beat the affluent. Whether it’s capping tax reliefs, limiting pension contributions or increasing stamp duty to 7 per cent for £2m homes, it is noticeable that the constant stream of new tax measures is no longer about raising revenue, [...]
Alexander to end contracts for tax evaders September 25, 2012 DANNY Alexander, the chief secretary to the Treasury, yesterday announced that he would ramp up tax inspections for the rich and stop government contracts being awarded to firms that evade taxes. “Taxpayers’ money should not be funding tax dodgers,” he told the Liberal Democrat conference. “So I have tasked HMRC and the Cabinet Office to [...]
What the other papers say this morning September 25, 2012 FINANCIAL TIMES Temasek considers StanChart stake Singapore investment fund Temasek has sounded out potential buyers for its £6bn stake in Standard Chartered, potentially reigniting talk of a takeover of the emerging markets bank. The fund, which is owned by the Singapore government, had been judging buyer interest for its 18 per cent shareholding in recent [...]
Frustrating UK tax quirks can easily mean missed mortgage payments September 24, 2012 WHEN HMRC wrongly changed my tax code last October, I was paying 40 per cent of my total income as tax for six months. It had a huge impact on my finances – my take home pay went below my mortgage costs. And HMRC couldn’t correct it, despite admitting its error. In the end I [...]
THE TIPSTER | Rebuilding dominance September 24, 2012 AS TALK of a housing recovery gains momentum, investors may be looking to add growth-orientated stocks to their portfolio. Persimmon has seen tough times since the onset of the financial crisis, with shares falling from their peak above 1,500p. However, the house builder has added 67 per cent to its share price this year and [...]
The Liberal Democrats’ attack on middle class will backfire September 23, 2012 It is hard to know what the Liberal Democrats are playing at. Their traditional positioning was centrist, appealing to people who were repelled both by Labour’s statism, high taxes and authoritarianism (as well as its foreign policy) and by the Tories’ low-tax, smaller government, Eurosceptic policies, as well as their traditional social conservatism. The Lib [...]