Labour’s 50p tax populism ignores the most important debate of the century January 27, 2014 ED BALLS’S announcement that the 50 per cent top rate of income tax could make a comeback is an act of political opportunism devoid of any economic sense. Opinion polls may show that two-thirds of voters would support such a hike, but satisfying the politics of envy is a dangerous economic game. Raising the top [...]
The Labour party’s war on the better off is dreadful economics January 27, 2014 WHEN governments don’t like something, they tax it. Hence why we have “sin” taxes on alcohol, tobacco and various forms of pollution. Ed Balls’ announcement at the weekend that a Labour government would increase the top rate of tax to 50p – coming on top of his plan to hike corporation tax by 1p on [...]
The entrepreneurial economy is taking off but we’re yet to realise its potential January 21, 2014 AT THE launch of Global Entrepreneurship Week 2013, Vince Cable announced that “10 per cent of the UK workforce is engaged in entrepreneurship activity.” Then he ploughed on with his speech, leaving the audience wondering precisely what this was supposed to mean. After decades of being politely sidelined, entrepreneurship is political and economic orthodoxy. Few [...]
Migrant benefit reform: Doing the right thing for all of the wrong reasons January 20, 2014 YESTERDAY saw the government announce the latest in a line of restrictions on the benefits immigrants can claim. New jobless EU migrants will be denied access to housing benefit from April, and will only be able to claim Jobseeker’s Allowance for six months unless they have a “genuine” chance of work. This comes on top [...]
Bitcoin faces latest regulation barrage – this time it’s from Finland January 20, 2014 Today has brought another state-led assault on Bitcoin – Finland, like neighbour Norway, has deemed the virtual currency a commodity, rather than a currency. Finland’s central bank has said that Bitcoin doesn’t even meet the definition of an electronic payment method. Speaking to Bloomberg, Paeivi Heikkinen, head of oversight at the Bank of Finland in [...]
HMRC sets new record for asset seizures from self-employed January 20, 2014 HM Revenues and Customs set a new high of 1,488 asset seizures over the last year from self-assessed taxpayers who could not pay bills. Tax officials took a harder line than ever, said finance firm Syscap, adding that the majority facing penalties were self-employed professionals such as accountants and solicitors. HMRC increased the use of [...]
Why 2014 could be the year to invest in Venture Capital Trusts January 14, 2014 ON AVERAGE, investments through Venture Capital Trusts (VCTs) have returned 88.6 per cent over the last ten years (with dividends reinvested, assuming an annual 3.5 per cent fee), compared to around 65 per cent for the FTSE All–Share index. VCTs are not for everybody – they are designed to encourage indirect investment in a range [...]
Bitcoin tax review could make cryptocurrency transactions much cheaper January 13, 2014 Next month Bitcoin and other virtual currencies could become even more attractive to UK investors and retailers looking to accept them as payment. Bitcoin could find its tax status changed to a ‘private money’ by the end of February as part of HMRC’s review of the tax liability of electronic currencies. Transactions in Bitcoin are [...]
Imperial Tobacco makes tax payment after settling dispute December 19, 2013 IMPERIAL Tobacco paid around £170m in UK corporation tax in its 2013 financial year, more than its total UK tax bill for the previous seven years, after settling a dispute with the tax authority. Imperial Tobacco, the world’s fifth-largest tobacco company by market capitalisation, declined to give details of what it described as “a confidential [...]
HMRC not doing enough to tax big businesses December 18, 2013 THE PUBLIC accounts committee has accused HM Revenue and Customs of failing to pursue big businesses for tax payments, resulting in a £35bn tax gap between what is expected to be collected and what actually comes in to government coffers. Chair of the committee Margaret Hodge MP highlighted further flaws in the way this figure is [...]