VAT hike on chicken and sausage rolls March 21, 2012 THOSE WHO enjoy tucking into supermarket rotisserie chicken, toasted sandwiches or sausage rolls bought on the high street may find they are about to pay more dearly after the chancellor clamped down on loopholes allowing shops to avoid paying VAT on hot food. From October, supermarkets and other retailers such as Greggs will be forced [...]
Every taxpayer to be told how their money is spent March 21, 2012 Every taxpayer will receive a personalised statement breaking down how their tax is spent, under plans aimed at increasing the government’s financial transparency. From 2014 , around 20m taxpayers will receive a Personal Tax Statement from HMRC, setting out exactly how much income tax and national insurance contributions they pay and detailing where the money [...]
50p rate taxpayers should utilise their fleeting allowance March 21, 2012 BUDGETS are rarely driven by economic sense. More often than not politics triumphs over clarity. And the coalition, like all previous governments, tried to manage expectations – threatening in the lead up to yesterday to tinker with the rules on additional rate taxpayers’ relief on pensions, only to leave the rules unchanged. As such, no [...]
HMRC cost cutting scheme loses taxman over £800m March 20, 2012 A REVENUE and Customs (HMRC) programme designed to increase revenues and cut costs ended up costing the taxman over £800m as cash-generating compliance officers were sacked. The programme, which ran from 2006 to 2011, found the tax-raising body reduced its headcount by 3,387 by 2008-9, saving £116m per year. However, those staff cuts meant HMRC [...]
Ken Livingstone is blameless in his tax planning March 20, 2012 GEORGE Osborne will stand up today and announce a major clampdown on tax avoidance. Despite what some would have us believe, this should not target Ken Livingstone or people like him. I’ll be clear from the outset – I have no affection for Livingstone. I disagree with his policies, his personal views and the relationships [...]
Non doms flee UK tax attack March 19, 2012 THE NUMBER of individuals registered as non-domiciled with HM revenue and customs (HMRC) has fallen dramatically in the two years since a new levy was imposed on them, figures revealed yesterday. Labour chancellor Alistair Darling imposed in 2008 a £30,000 annual charge on “non-doms” who have worked in the UK for more than a few [...]
Calls for end to 50p tax as Osborne mulls faster allowance hike March 18, 2012 THE TAX-FREE allowance could be raised faster than previously planned in Wednesday’s budget, City A.M. understands, as part of a major deal to reduce taxes on workers at both ends of the income distribution. Chancellor George Osborne yesterday promised that “the bulk” of new measures announced will benefit people on low and middle incomes, as [...]
Accountants hit out at Clegg’s tycoon tax March 11, 2012 INDEPENDENT accountants have shot down deputy prime minister Nick Clegg’s call for a “tycoon tax”. Addressing his party faithful at their spring conference in Gateshead, Clegg attacked “multimillionaires avoiding tax by moving their money around” and claimed that many pay less than 30 per cent or even 20 per cent tax. Yet tax experts at [...]
Lawyers slam retrospective Barclays tax February 29, 2012 LAWYERS yesterday railed against the retrospective £100m tax bill handed to Barclays bank by HMRC this week, saying it could set a worrying precedent. Barclays faces paying over £100m to the Treasury after the government changed the law to close a tax loophole. The bank was allegedly exploiting a rule that says profit arising from [...]
Tax campaigners against Barclays are misinformed February 28, 2012 ON MONDAY, David Gauke, exchequer secretary to the Treasury, told a stunned House of Commons that a bank had attempted to use a tax avoidance scheme to reduce its tax bill by £0.3bn. The government would act swiftly to close this loophole. As other banks are also understood to have used this dodge, it’s hoped [...]