TOP LIB DEMS CALL FOR NEW PROPERTY TAX March 28, 2011 THE two most powerful Lib Dems yesterday called for more tax to be levied on high-value homeowners to offset the scrapping of the 50p rate of tax. Deputy prime minister Nick Clegg and business secretary Vince Cable both said those with expensive properties would be targeted when the 50p rate is eventually dropped but ruled [...]
A useful but schizophrenic package March 23, 2011 SOME of the early reaction yesterday was that this was a slightly boring, forgettable Budget. Nonsense. It was far-ranging: radical in parts, brilliant at times, occasionally awful, way too political and often quite surprising. It wasn’t quite the Budget for growth that George Osborne should have delivered: populism all too often got the better of [...]
Osborne targets £4bn from tax avoidance clampdown March 23, 2011 TAX avoiders skipping stamp duty on property purchases and tax on trusts funded by employers were targeted yesterday as the chancellor aims to recover £4bn in lost tax revenue. The chancellor is clamping down on house buyers’ use of sub-sale relief, alternative financing schemes and exchange of land rules to avoid paying stamp duty of [...]
Osborne puts the 50p top rate for high earners under review March 23, 2011 GEORGE Osborne yesterday confirmed that the 50p tax rate on high earners will stay in place for the time being, but reassured that it won’t exist for much longer. The chancellor said that he would consult HMRC to look at whether the high earner income tax was financially viable, or whether scrapping it would tempt [...]
It pays to know HMRC’s stance on trading gains March 20, 2011 ONE of the biggest draws of spread betting over traditional share dealing is the former’s tax status. Although the Treasury is currently searching under each and every rock and stone in the search for revenue, it is highly unlikely that spread betting will lose this position. Spread betting is tax free for the consumer in [...]
PROPERTY NEWS March 17, 2011 OPEN HOUSE DAY AT STRUTT & PARKER The estate agents Strutt & Parker will be opening the doors of properties across the UK for buyers on 26 March. Prospective buyers will be able to view a range of properties, from quaint cottages to grand manor houses, in a relaxed, pressure-free environment, from 10am to 4pm. [...]
Ireland to fight tax harmony by the back door March 16, 2011 IRELAND is to fiercely oppose what its Prime Minister Enda Kenny has called an EU attempt at “harmonisation of taxes by the back door”. Proposals published by the European Commission (EC) yesterday aim to offer companies a single set of rules for calculating their corporate tax across the whole EU. But the proposals have been [...]
Japan counts the cost of a truly horrific tragedy March 14, 2011 SLOWLY but surely, more horror stories are emerging from the rubble that is Tsunami-hit Northern Japan. The death toll will undoubtedly be many orders of magnitude higher than the few thousand so far confirmed by the authorities, while the big issue last night was the extremely serious problem at several Japanese nuclear power plants. While [...]
Begbies lowers its outlook March 10, 2011 British restructuring specialist Begbies Traynor said it lowered its expectations for full-year results due to a fall in demand for its tax planning services, sending its shares down eight per cent. The company also said restructuring of its insolvency, tax and support areas was expected to cost about £3m for the year ending 30 April. [...]
Time to tackle our terrible tax code March 3, 2011 AMAZINGLY, the world’s fastest talker can speak 637 words aloud a minute. Yes, seriously. The record-holder is a Londoner called Steve Woodmore, who has featured repeatedly in the Guinness Book of Records. Tolstoy’s War and Peace comes in at a hefty 1,204 pages; it would therefore take 12 and a half hours for our record-holder [...]