Tackling football too hard over tax nets an own goal April 26, 2012 IT SEEMS that barely a week goes by at present without a dispute between Premier League football and HMRC. High-profile stories have included HMRC sending detailed questionnaires to all Premier League clubs on employment tax compliance, Manchester United, Chelsea and Newcastle United settling outstanding image-rights liabilities, the ongoing football creditor case at the High Court [...]
London house market leading price recovery April 24, 2012 LONDON’S housing market has the strongest prospects in the country, according to a new survey, and official figures yesterday showed sales across the UK may be rising gradually. Almost 40 per cent of Britons think house prices will rise over the next year, compared with just 20 per cent who expect a drop, leaving the [...]
Top MPs angry at Osborne’s Budget leaks April 17, 2012 AN INFLUENTIAL group of MPs hit out at George Osborne’s handling of the budget today, accusing him of basing the 50p tax change on “highly uncertain” figures, adding extra complexity around the child benefit regime and failing to stop leaks. Citing the highly uncertain impact of the 50p tax, the Treasury Select Committee called for [...]
WILL THE PM HELP GOOD CAUSES? April 16, 2012 David Cameron yesterday insisted he wants to see charitable giving rise, and that a consultation on income tax relief caps would allow the government “plenty of time to get it right” before the caps are implemented next year. Since charities and some high profile donors have insisted that capping income tax relief on donations will [...]
Firms fear new tax system is rushed April 16, 2012 THE PILOT for HM Revenue and Customs’ (HMRC) new real time information (RTI) system was launched last week, but a survey out yesterday shows most firms want its full implementation to be delayed. RTI is designed to reduce errors in the pay as you earn system of income tax payments when workers change jobs, and [...]
Concessions loom as Fink joins revolt on charity tax April 15, 2012 WILLIAM Hague has paved the way for government concessions on the capping of tax relief on charitable donations after a group of leading philanthropists, including Stanley Fink, said it would deter people from giving to good causes. Hague, the foreign secretary, appeared to hint at a compromise. “Finding a solution that takes account of the [...]
Government wrong to demonise generous philanthropists April 13, 2012 IT has become increasingly difficult to understand what the coalition government is up to. Take its decision to demonise those who donate large amounts to charity, depicting them in a grossly unfair manner as tax avoiders who should be ashamed of themselves. This is an astonishingly stupid and nasty thing to imply. The government claims [...]
Government wrong to demonise generous philanthropists April 12, 2012 IT has become increasingly difficult to understand what the coalition government is up to. Take its decision to demonise those who donate large amounts to charity, depicting them in a grossly unfair manner as tax avoiders who should be ashamed of themselves. This is an astonishingly stupid and nasty thing to imply. The government claims [...]
Government fails the moral code it is now demanding of taxpayers April 12, 2012 IT IS difficult to think of an issue that has generated more self-righteous moralising by politicians of all parties than the recent furore over “abusive” tax avoidance. Some of the pronouncements emanating from Westminster would lead one to believe that tax avoidance is one of the great crimes of our age. Except it’s not a [...]
We need an open contest to decide who will run the Bank April 12, 2012 THERE is no doubt that George Osborne’s most important decision over the next few months will be who he appoints as the next governor of the Bank of England. That job, which becomes vacant next year, is by a huge distance the most powerful unelected position in the UK; its formal powers now span monetary [...]