HMRC launches crackdown on London lawyers September 18, 2012 THE LEGAL industry reacted with surprise yesterday after Her Majesty’s Revenue & Customs (HMRC) announced a crackdown on tax dodging by London lawyers, with the aim of recovering up to £3m in missed payments. “It is not, at present, clear to us exactly why the legal profession has been targeted by HMRC,” said Michael Todd, [...]
What the other papers say this morning September 16, 2012 FINANCIAL TIMES CCB eyes $16bn European bank move One of China’s biggest lenders plans to make the country’s largest foreign bank purchase to date and has set its sights on potential targets in Europe. China Construction Bank, the second-ranked Chinese lender by assets after Industrial and Commercial Bank of China, could spend as much as [...]
Simple tax planning helps to reduce costs September 16, 2012 But a new EU directive will hike price of life assurance for women I MET a new professional client recently who has just taken out £300,000 of life insurance online. She is married and both she and her husband have made wills, but their combined estates are over the inheritance tax (IHT) threshold. Therefore, on [...]
HMRC squeezes more from rich September 11, 2012 THE EXCHEQUER has bagged an extra £500m in tax from Britain’s wealthiest under a new scheme, it announced yesterday. HM Revenue & Customs said its high net worth unit has exceeded collection targets since being set up three years ago. The office probes the tax affairs of the 5,000 richest people in the UK – [...]
Law firm claims taxman is wrong in half of complaints September 9, 2012 THE TAXMAN admitted it was wrong in well over half of the complaints it received through the 2010-11 tax year, research from law firm Pinsent Masons has revealed. There were some 58,110 complaints made to Her Majesty’s Revenue and Customs (HMRC) in 2010-11, and in 33,284 – or 57 per cent – of these the [...]
Top MP hits out at Barclays tax dodge claims September 5, 2012 BARCLAYS’ evidence to the Treasury Select Committee of MPs on tax avoidance measures directly contradicts that given by the chancellor, the committee’s influential chairman Andrew Tyrie declared today, demanding an explanation from the bank. HM Revenue and Customs retrospectively clamped down on the bank in February after it reduced its tax bill by roughly £300m [...]
Foreign firms get no special tax treatment, say lawyers August 27, 2012 FOREIGN-OWNED firms are linked to almost half of HMRC’s investigations into large companies’ tax bills, according to lawyers. Pinsent Masons reckons the figures rubbish claims that revenue-collecting authorities adopt a light touch approach to chasing inwardly investing companies for their tax contributions. HMRC investigates levels of tax that the 770 largest businesses in the UK [...]
Taxation shouldn’t be determined by subjective opinions of fairness August 27, 2012 THE Treasury’s latest consultation – Ensuring the Fair Taxation of UK Residential Property Transactions – has just closed. We responded to it, and disagreed not only with the substance of the policies, but also the way in which the consultation was framed around the vaguest of concepts: “fairness”. The main proposal is for a graduated [...]
HMRC accused of recruiting a child tax army August 16, 2012 OFFICIALLY, the aim of the HM Revenue and Customs “tax matters” campaign is to make children grow into better citizens, teaching them the basics of the tax system and the purpose behind it, as well as a greater sense of civic responsibility. It even covers the basics of how to pay tax and national insurance [...]
What the other papers say this morning August 15, 2012 FINANCIAL TIMES Barrick Gold explores Africa sale Canadian miner Barrick Gold has been exploring a sale of its 74 per cent stake in African Barrick, the London-listed gold producer, in a move that could prompt a full takeover. Barrick has been working with UBS to consider its options for African Barrick, which the Canadian miner, [...]