Statement brings halt to £425m rates hike on small businesses December 5, 2012 BUSINESS rate relief will not halve in April, as planned, but will be extended into 2014, it was revealed yesterday. Businesses using only one property, with a rateable value of £6,000 or less, currently pay nothing whatsoever in business rates – but were set to lose half their rate relief as the measure expired at the [...]
Rapid Responses December 4, 2012 The tax debate [Re: Politicians need to stop moralising – and reform our taxes, yesterday] Britain’s tax system does not reward the working poor. Nobody on low wages should pay income tax or national insurance, while also receiving benefits. Chris Hobson We shouldn’t bring the level of tax into the debate about tax reform. To critics [...]
Politicians need to stop moralising – and reform our taxes December 3, 2012 LIKE many people, I loathe the UK tax system. It fails to treat everyone equally and is either extraordinarily punitive or pathetically soft. Scandalously, some big companies pay huge amounts of corporation tax while other similar businesses don’t. The aim must be revolutionary tax reform – all streams of income from labour and capital generated [...]
The company tax debate must focus on realistic reform December 3, 2012 THE Public Account Committee’s (PAC) ongoing criticism of large multinationals for their corporation tax payments is an ill-considered departure from a more sensible debate. Multinational companies, like Starbucks and Google, are by definition different to domestic businesses (like John Lewis or Morrisons). This is especially true of internet retailers like Amazon. Under the current law, [...]
Starbucks to donate tax to UK coffers December 2, 2012 STARBUCKS is seeking to voluntarily pay more UK corporation tax, the coffee chain said yesterday, in a victory for angry MPs and activists. But experts warned that a tax system based on public pressure on a few high-profile firms, rather than one that relies on actual changes to tax law, risks undermining investors’ faith in [...]
Britain is becoming an increasingly anti-libertarian society November 28, 2012 WELCOME to Britain, a land where rules, regulation and taxes are one of the few growth industries. In recent days, the government has decided that companies will no longer be allowed to decide freely at which price they can sell alcohol – there will be a minimum price, hurting those who enjoy two-for-one deals. Our [...]
Who’s switching jobs November 28, 2012 Aviva Phil Pavitt has been appointed to the role of IT transformation director at the insurance group. He joins from HMRC, where he was general director of change. Pavitt has also held chief information officer positions at Centrica, Virgin Media and BT. MasterCard Will Judge has been appointed vice president for travel and transit. He [...]
Trust a trust to protect your child’s education November 25, 2012 SINCE 2002, private school fees have risen at 1.8 times the rate of inflation. The average cost today is £11,500 per year, up from £6,800 in 2002. Private education is becoming more of a luxury, and it may be a good idea to find a more innovative solution than relying on your Christmas bonus. A [...]
What the other papers say this morning November 21, 2012 FINANCIAL TIMES Man Group gains from prototype Man Group, the world’s second largest hedge fund manager, has shifted $1.5bn (£940m) of its flagship computerised fund AHL into an experimental new portfolio to boost ailing returns. The new vehicle, which Man has internally dubbed “evolution”, has made 18 per cent so far this year, and made [...]
Taxman missing out on billions because of avoidance schemes November 21, 2012 A CRACKDOWN on tax avoidance schemes raked in an additional £200m for the government in the last year, according to estimates published yesterday by the National Audit Office (NAO). But HM Revenue and Customs is still missing out on £5bn from continued tax avoidance – that is, “using the tax law to get a tax [...]