Subway fights for sandwich tax equality January 13, 2013 FAST food chain Subway is preparing to recommence battle with HM Revenue & Customs over the decision to charge VAT on toasted sandwiches, in a move that could reheat the furious row that surrounded last year’s pasty tax. The company has won the right to take a test case to the Court of Appeal, despite [...]
Women come top of Financial Power list 2013 January 13, 2013 TWO influential women have stormed to the top of the annual Financial Power list produced by Accountancy Age. The list aims to rate the most influential movers and shakers in accounting and finance. Previously no woman has ever topped the list, let alone occupied the top two slots. So who are these winning women? At [...]
Goals Soccer halts growth plans January 10, 2013 Goals Soccer Centre is to freeze its expansion plans until 2014 in a bid to cut back on its £50m debt-pile, the company said yesterday as it revealed a six per cent rise in full-year sales. The group, which runs 43 five-a-side football centres in the UK, said it successfully appealed HMRC’s decision to charge [...]
Child benefit for better off ending today January 7, 2013 THE GOVERNMENT yesterday acknowledged today’s child benefit changes are not perfect, but insisted removing the handouts for high earners is still a step in the right direction. Any household with at least one person earning over £50,000 will lose some of its child benefit, with those on more than £60,000 seeing the cash stopped completely. [...]
HMRC maintains its pressure on tax evaders with offshore assets January 7, 2013 HM Revenue and Customs (HMRC) made 640 requests to overseas governments for information on individuals’ tax affairs during the last financial year, according to figures released today. Australia was by far the most targeted country, with 96 requests made by HMRC for information on individuals associated with the country. Spain (49 requests) and Ireland (38 [...]
Tax fraud soars to hit five-year high at £600m January 7, 2013 THE level of reported tax fraud rose to its highest level since 2007 last year – despite a plunge in total frauds recorded, a study out today shows. Tax fraud accounted for almost half of all fraud reported to authorities in 2012 – some 44 per cent – and is almost double the figure reported [...]
Brave start-up entrepreneurs may be set for a positive 2013 January 7, 2013 LAST year’s employment market was characterised by insecurity, scarcity of supply, and job losses in once buoyant sectors. Previously good reasons for staying in a City job could now be gone. While an uncertain jobs market may not be incentive enough alone for you to take the equally difficult path into entrepreneurship, according to Stuart [...]
Is Sir Martin Sorrell right that corporation tax payments are a “question of judgement”? January 2, 2013 YES Steve Barclay As the public becomes increasingly aware of how much tax companies are paying, chief executives should be asking: “What impact will our tax affairs have on our brand?” Sir Martin Sorrell is right to acknowledge that Starbucks’s decision to pay £20m extra in corporation tax was motivated by the idea that “doing [...]
HMRC slammed for call handling December 17, 2012 HMRC cost its customers £136m by keeping them dangling on the phone, a damning National Audit Office (NAO) report reveals today. NAO criticised the tax office for giving customers “poor value”. It found those who got through to HMRC in 2011-12 had to wait on average 282 seconds to speak to an adviser. Between April [...]
Taxpayers face £50m bill from Comet failure December 16, 2012 THE owners of Comet are set to recover £50m from the collapse of the electricals chain while taxpayers are expected to fork out around £50m in unpaid tax and redundancy costs. A report by administrator Deloitte due to be published today is expected to show that Hailey Acquisitions Limited (HAL), Comet’s parent company, is entitled [...]