Make Budgets mean Budgets again: We need far better tax policy-making October 3, 2016 At lunchtime today, Philip Hammond will stand up in Birmingham and make his first major speech as chancellor. He will be aiming to reassure audiences that the government will manage the economic consequences of Brexit – and will give the first indications of his approach. The Institute for Government, the Institute for Fiscal Studies and [...]
London swells the taxman’s coffers by paying almost half the country’s levy on home purchases September 30, 2016 The government collected £3.4bn of stamp duty from the London's homebuyers according to statistics released today. The number represented 46 per cent of the total amount of stamp duty paid in the UK over the last year. And together with the rest of the south-east, together the two areas accounted for more than two-thirds of the [...]
Taxman increases number of raids on premises by over a quarter September 26, 2016 More and more businesses could be expecting a rather abrupt visit from the taxman, as figures out today has found the number of raids carried out by HM Revenue & Customs (HMRC) has shot up over the last year. The research found that HMRC searched 761 properties as part of its criminal investigations over the course of the [...]
Startups are swelling the ranks of UK businesses September 26, 2016 The number of VAT registered businesses in the UK has hit an all-time high of 2.1m, up four per cent from 2m last year. The rise has been driven by the thriving national startup economy, according to accountancy group UHY Hacker Young. The number of businesses in the UK per capita has meanwhile recovered to [...]
Denial and disgrace: Here’s everything that’s happened at Sports Direct over the past year September 23, 2016 Mike Ashley has always controlled Sports Direct, but today he finally took the top job at the company he founded. It's been a rollercoaster year for Ashley. If you're wondering how we got to this point, here's everything that's happened so far: Politicians launch an investigation into working practices at Sports Direct The move comes after [...]
Brexhausted: The number of UK property transactions has plateaued as the market adjusts to new taxes and Brexit September 21, 2016 The number of property transactions fell in August year-on-year as the market adjusted to a more uncertain economic environment. There were 97,600 residential transactions in August, 6.1 per cent lower than in the same month last year, when adjusted for seasonal variations. The figures from HM Revenue and Customs (HMRC) show little change on the number [...]
The Football Pools sale: Sportech plans disposal of betting game for nearly £100m to Burlywood Capital September 13, 2016 The Football Pools, the 93-year-old sports lottery, is being sold by owners Sportech to investment fund Burlywood Capital for just shy of £100m. Burlywood Capital, a venture capital firm focused on gaming and gambling, plans to list a new company created for the Football Pools on the AIM exchange. Shares in Sportech have jumped by 9.3 [...]
Experts warn the taxman could miss out on £6.6bn of non-dom tax revenues from 2017 September 12, 2016 Experts and politicians have urged the government to reconsider proposals to reform non-dom tax status from next April. Research released today reveals that the average non-dom pays 10 times the average amount of tax paid by Britons. The worry is that a change in legislation will simply drive non-doms to register themselves abroad, reducing overall [...]
HM Revenue & Customs corporate asset seizures spike by 145 per cent September 12, 2016 The taxman has cracked down on collecting outstanding tax from UK businesses. The number of businesses whose assets were seized by HM Revenue & Customs (HMRC) in 2015/16 was 1,592, up a staggering 145 per cent on the prior year of 649 seizures. The increase reflects the fact that amount of tax overdue hiked from £15m to [...]
It’s time Chicken Licken Remainers admitted the sky hasn’t fallen in post-Brexit September 8, 2016 Before the referendum, the Remain camp did not hold back from listing the catastrophic consequences of Brexit. The banks and financial services sector would abandon London overnight, they said. Vital funding would be lost for farming, science and regeneration schemes. The British economy would immediately stall, then spiral into a crash. Eleven weeks on from [...]