WHAT THE OTHER PAPERS SAY THIS MORNING December 11, 2011 FINANCIAL TIMES TNK-BP WARNED ON LEGAL ACTION Two of the independent directors in TNK-BP, the Russian joint venture of BP, warned the board that legal action by the company against either set of shareholders could destabilise the group, according to a letter seen by the Financial Times. In the letter addressed to Mikhail Fridman, TNK-BP’s [...]
HMRC’s use of powers to seize business assets grows four-fold November 13, 2011 HMRC has massively increased its use of powers, allowing it to seize the assets of late-paying businesses in an urgent effort to increase its tax take, a new report has revealed. Data obtained by law firm McGrigors shows that the number of times HMRC has used its powers of distraint to seize assets of late-payers [...]
Voda results robust despite euro woes November 8, 2011 THE EUROZONE crisis tainted an otherwise robust set of results for Vodafone, with a £450m writedown on its Greek business helping push profits down 11 per cent. Vodafone, facing tough comparatives against last year when it booked the sale of its minority shareholding in China Mobile, saw its revenues increase 4.1 per cent to £23.5bn, [...]
HMRC probed in Commons November 7, 2011 A TAX OFFICIAL lost their bonus following a blunder that allowed Goldman Sachs to escape a tax bill of around £10m, Parliament was told yesterday. In a hearing by MPs on the Public Accounts Committee yesterday, Dave Hartnett, permanent secretary for tax at HMRC said the error was dealt with through a staff member’s annual [...]
Taskforces to lead tax crackdown November 7, 2011 TASKFORCES are being set up to target different types of tax evasion in different regions, HM Revenue and Customs (HMRC) revealed yesterday. Businesses are the particular focus in London and the south east, with those failing to submit statutory returns for corporation tax, income self assessment, PAYE and VAT seen as core targets by the [...]
A NIGHT AT THE OPERA FOR LEGAL SOPRANOS November 7, 2011 BETRAYAL, revenge and murder – it was business as usual when the Magic Circle decamped to the dress circle at Sadler’s Wells to watch Allen & Overy’s modern-day reworking of Carmen set in Seville Airport. The opera, which follows last year’s staging of The Magic Flute at Glyndebourne, involved 74 of the firm’s staff past [...]
Tax crackdown targets foreign home owners October 31, 2011 WEALTHY UK residents with foreign property will come under increased pressure to make sure their tax returns are in order, after Her Majesty’s Revenue and Customs launched a crackdown on undeclared assets. HMRC said yesterday that a new team of investigators will target around 200,000 so-called affluent taxpayers, some of whom it believes may be [...]
City of London calls in lawyers over St Paul’s campers as disruptions enter second week October 23, 2011 THE City of London has vowed to get tough with protesters camping outside St Paul’s as the Occupy LSX movement enters its second week. A crunch meeting today will see the City of London Corporation meet with representatives of the cathedral and lawyers to discuss how to close down the makeshift commune. A spokesman for [...]
Key tax ruling may hit UK non-doms October 20, 2011 INTERNATIONAL entrepreneur Robert Gaines-Cooper lost his UK residency appeal in the Supreme Court yesterday, in a case that could have repercussions for other non-domiciles facing back-dated tax bills. The court ruled in favour of HMRC that the millionaire must pay tax under UK law, despite having lived in the Seychelles since 1976. Commentators said the judgement [...]
Six million to get tax rebate as HMRC overhauls its IT systems October 20, 2011 SIX MILLION UK workers will see a total £2.5m of their tax money repaid by the government as a new IT system corrects overpayments dating back to 2003, HMRC said yesterday. The repayments will be on average about £300 per person with any interest generated on top of that, and will be returned automatically any [...]