Aberdeen to pursue tax row with HMRC October 16, 2011 ABERDEEN Asset Management is taking its long-running £8m tax dispute to a new tribunal hearing. The claim, which attempts to overturn an £8m tax ruling related to an options scheme used to compensate chief executive Martin Gilbert and other senior staff, is expected to be heard before the Upper Tax Tribunal later this month. It [...]
Taxman offers amnesty to 6,000 Swiss account holders at HSBC October 13, 2011 THE GOVERNMENT is offering up to 6,000 holders of Swiss bank accounts at HSBC a last chance to come clean with the taxman or face possible investigation that could involve a criminal probe. After being contacted by the HMRC, the account-holders will have 30 days to come forward. “Those making a disclosure will pay a [...]
Call for taxman to resign over Goldman case October 12, 2011 THE UK’s top tax collector admitted yesterday that he should not have struck a secret deal with Goldman Sachs to forgive a chunk of unpaid tax. David Hartnett was called before a committee of MPs to explain his role in agreeing a deal that saved the bank up to £10m in interest on a tax [...]
Hedge fund at war with tax man over £35m bill October 9, 2011 LONDON hedge fund Cheyne Capital is locked in dispute with HM Revenue & Customs over allegations it has failed to pay £35.3m in tax. The government agency is demanding £29.8m in pay-as-you-earn tax and has lodged a county court claim for £5.5m in national insurance contributions, according to statements in Cheyne’s accounts for the year [...]
Mistakes to avoid if you move abroad October 5, 2011 MANY people choose to leave the UK to escape, temporarily or permanently, the gloomy weather and the even gloomier tax regime. Sadly, there is a mountain of bureaucracy to wade through before setting sail for warmer climes. “It is important to differentiate between moving overseas for a short period of time and expatriating indefinitely,” says [...]
I’m a priest who works in finance. Here is my take September 29, 2011 WHILE being interviewed during the Liberal Democrat Conference, the great pious voice of our collective conscious, also known as Vince Cable, solemnly stated that the reduction of the uncompetitive taxes on the “rich” would have to wait. His reasoning was that a reduction in tax on the lowest paid would result in greater overall spending. [...]
Liberalism is left for dead by Labour September 28, 2011 YOU’VE probably never heard of Ivan Lewis, a rather obscure Labour politician. But yesterday Lewis, the shadow culture secretary, unveiled an astonishingly sinister proposal which threatens free speech and media plurality in the UK like never before: he called for a register of journalists, with anybody deemed not fit struck off and banned. Of course, [...]
Liberalism is left for dead by Labour September 27, 2011 YOU’VE probably never heard of Ivan Lewis, a rather obscure Labour politician. But yesterday Lewis, the shadow culture secretary, unveiled an astonishingly sinister proposal which threatens free speech and media plurality in the UK like never before: he called for a register of journalists, with anybody deemed not fit struck off and banned. Of course, [...]
A chance to build Britain’s answer to Luxembourg September 25, 2011 IT IS clear that one of the things the UK needs most right now is new jobs. Real, private sector jobs. And above all in the regions away from the southeast of England. This month, the ONS has reported the largest increase in unemployment in nearly two years, as the number of people unemployed in [...]
Successful entrepreneurs’ advice on how to ride out the three-year glitch September 25, 2011 STARTING a business is not easy. It’s a monumental decision like getting married, buying a house or having children. So much energy goes into getting it off the ground in the first year that it seems odd to focus on the third. But the third year really does matter. It’s a decisive year when most [...]