Super-SMEs are Britain’s growth dynamo: They deserve our support November 9, 2014 A NEW report from Octopus Investments and the Centre for Economics and Business Research reveals that high growth small businesses (HGSBs) are the driving force behind recent growth in the economy and employment. The High Growth Small Business Report shows that HGSBs – firms with an annual turnover of between £1m and £20m, growing at [...]
HMRC to detail its spend November 3, 2014 HM REVENUE and Customs’ (HMRC) first annual tax summary – breaking down exactly how tax is spent by the exchequer – will become available to 24m taxpayers from today. Some 8m taxpayers who have completed self-assessment returns will be able to access their tax summaries online, while the remaining 16m PAYE taxpayers, who received a [...]
Government launches poster campaign to crack down on benefit fraud October 21, 2014 Benefit fraud is to be the target of the government's latest ad campaign with posters to be extended across almost 50 towns and cities. The Department for Work and Pensions (DWP) wants claimants who have a change of circumstances to report it, so they don't fall foul of the rules. Over the course of the [...]
Taxi app Uber referred to HMRC by TfL over tax complaint by Margaret Hodge October 15, 2014 Uber, the smartphone taxi app, has been referred to HM Revenue & Customers by London’s taxi and minicab regulator Transport for London (TfL). The referral follows a complaint by Labour MP Margaret Hodge that Uber’s Dutch operating firm Uber BV does not pay tax in the UK and was “opting out of the UK tax [...]
The crackdown on no win, no fee risks handing a victory to dodgy directors October 15, 2014 One of the hazards of policymaking is that many of the best-laid plans can have curiously unintended consequences. In implementing policy, meanwhile, government can often find its left hand undermined by its right. So it has been with the Ministry of Justice’s laudable bid to halt spurious and costly civil litigation, an initiative which now [...]
Sportech to appeal against £93m VAT charge October 13, 2014 BETTING operator Sportech has lodged an application to appeal against HM Revenue & Customs’ (HMRC) case that forced the group to pay back £93m in tax over its Spot the Ball game. Last month, it was ruled a game of skill not chance and therefore subject to VAT.
Will I get a tax rebate or do I have to pay more back? HMRC statement error affects thousands October 9, 2014 HM Revenue and Customs (HMRC) is sending out second tax statements to thousands of people, asking them to pay back their tax rebates because of initial miscalculations. Earlier this year, millions of people received notifications that they had paid the wrong about in tax for the year ending in April. Reasons given by [...]
UK house prices grow 9.6 per cent in a year, but growth is slowing. Here’s why October 8, 2014 More data showing the housing market is slowing has emerged today. Halifax, which bases its calculations on its own mortgage lending, calculates prices have risen 9.6 per cent over the year to September (down from 9.7 per cent for the year to August and 10.2 per cent for the 12 months to July) and 2.7 [...]
London’s thriving tech sector is under threat – from bonkers EU VAT reforms October 6, 2014 LONDON’S technology sector is thriving, with the capital’s tech firms attracting a record $1bn in venture capital investment in the first nine months of 2014. And as the general election approaches, there’s been no shortage of ideas for policy changes that could accelerate London’s tech growth further. Take the recent Coadec manifesto, which proposed a [...]
Grant Thornton boasts its fifth strong year but CEO Scott Barnes isn’t bragging October 5, 2014 Grant Thornton’s chief executive Scott Barnes is not a man given to extravagant outbursts. Today, the financial adviser’s yearly report boasts of “a fifth successive year of strong results”, with revenue breaking through the £500m mark it had targeted for next year. As Barnes took over as boss six years ago, that consecutive [...]