Relax to the sounds of the City January 17, 2013 MOST City workers down a speedy sandwich during their lunch hour, while others make a dash for the gym – but how many actually relax when away from their desk? This is the question being posed by the City of London Festival, which is touting its annual free Winter Concerts programme to encourage us all [...]
HMRC beefs up wealth team January 16, 2013 HM REVENUE & CUSTOMS yesterday announced it will hire 100 additional inspectors to investigate the tax affairs of high earners. They will work alongside the 200 existing members of the Affluent Compliance Team to ensure people with an annual income of more than £150,000 – or wealth of more than £2.5m – pay their tax in full. HMRC claim the [...]
City Moves for 17 January 2013 | Who’s switching jobs January 16, 2013 Lloyds Bank The bank’s commercial banking division has appointed Karin Cook chief operating officer. She joins from HSBC, where she was most recently global chief operating officer for its private bank. Cook has over 20 years’ experience in the industry, and has also held roles at Goldman Sachs and Morgan Stanley. Saffery Champness The accountancy [...]
Goldman Sachs in U-turn over delay to bonus January 15, 2013 GOLDMAN Sachs will pay its bankers’ bonuses before the 50p tax rate is cut to 45p, it emerged yesterday, after an outcry from politicians and regulators angry at plans to delay the payments into the new tax year. The bank’s compensation board considered shifting the payments to April, a source familiar with the discussions told [...]
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 [...]