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 [...]
£67,700,000,000: The amount of tax paid by Britain’s top 100 companies last year February 27, 2012 THE TAXMAN took an extra £8.3bn from top UK companies in the last fiscal year, with big firms contributing 14 per cent more compared to the previous year. In total, the so-called Hundred Group of businesses paid an eye-watering £67.7bn in tax in the year to March 2011, according to data released by PwC this [...]
Barclays hit by crackdown February 27, 2012 BARCLAYS has been targeted by the government’s closure of an “aggressive” tax avoidance scheme, costing it around £500m. The scheme shut by HMRC saw banks buy back their debt at a lower price than they had sold it, before avoiding corporation tax on the profit. The government is shutting down that scheme retrospectively, hitting any [...]
Remember UK Plc’s vast contribution February 27, 2012 IT is sometimes argued, including by government advisers, that the state should promote small firms above large ones. These people even argue that small, insurgent entrepreneurs are morally superior to larger, more bureaucratic multinationals. I disagree, but I can see where they are coming from: I too would much rather work for a small, nimble, [...]
Asian costs take a shine off HSBC win February 27, 2012 SOARING costs have hit profits at HSBC after it spent heavily on paying its bankers in the Far East. HSBC said success in emerging markets was becoming increasingly expensive, with costs rising 10 per cent, or $3.9bn – a third of that due to higher pay. HSBC posted a 15 per cent rise in pre-tax [...]
Bonus row now completely irrational February 22, 2012 UTTERLY absurd: that is the only way to describe the debate on bonuses. Here is why. Imagine a salesperson at a widget company so brilliant that she brings in £10m a year for her firm. She is the best widget salesperson in the UK and her firm’s biggest asset. Her company, unfortunately, is loss-making – [...]
House sales up 23% on last year February 21, 2012 There were 64,000 UK property sales in January, up 23 per cent compared the same month last year, according to figures from HM Revenue and Customs (HMRC). Sales numbers endured the traditional post-Christmas dip, falling from 86,000 in December. But the January figures are the highest since 2008. Yesterday the Council of Mortgage lenders said [...]