The economics of perpetual motion February 8, 2011 WOW. This government has finally cracked it. It has rewritten the laws of economics: there is now such a thing as a free lunch, the elusive El Dorado pursued so assiduously since time immemorial. I’m talking about George Osborne’s special tax on the balance sheets of large banks operating in London, hiked by another £800m [...]
Tax fines to rise sharply January 31, 2011 OFFSHORE tax evaders will see the penalties they face double under new rules announced by HM Revenue & Customs. HMRC’s decision to raise the penalty from 100 to 200 per cent of the amount evaded from 6 April this year is designed to push offshore money into more transparent and cooperative jurisdictions. The penalty for [...]
CITY MOVES | WHO’S SWITCHING JOBS January 24, 2011 Remuneration Consultants Group The body responsible for developing the voluntary code of conduct for executive remuneration consultants has appointed two new non-executive directors: Philippa Hird (pictured) and William Claxton-Smith. Hird is a leading human resources professional, having been group director of HR at ITV and being a current non-exec at HMRC. Claxton-Smith was head of corporate [...]
What the other papers say this morning January 23, 2011 FINANCIAL TIMES AUDITORS SEEK TO EASE FEARS The four biggest auditors have denied that their dominance of the market for large companies had created a systemic risk akin to that posed by the leading banks. Deloitte, Ernst & Young, KPMG and PwC have told the European Commission that they are willing to help draw up [...]
Tax officials’ bonuses to be curbed after bumper 2010 January 23, 2011 BONUSES received by tax officials will be curbed in line with the rest of the public sector, following revelations that top HMRC staff received a bumper £13m bonus payment between them last year. The Revenue paid out almost £800,000 more on staff bonuses last year than it did in 2009, despite a blunder in the [...]
Football stars face a tax bill crackdown January 16, 2011 ENGLAND footballer Wayne Rooney is amongst Premier League stars under scrutiny from tax inspectors for avoiding thousands of pounds in tax. A crackdown on more than 50 players was sparked after HM Revenue & Customs found some stars had been using complex legal loopholes and accountants to legally avoid paying the 50 per cent top [...]
Make sure you aren’t paying too much: get your tax return right January 12, 2011 IT’S THAT time of year again. We all try to pretend it’s not happening, but the reminder adverts have been slapped across the tube billboards for weeks now. So, at some point over the next three weeks, we are going to have to sit down and fill out our tax return. Many say the misery [...]
Diamond: We have to stop saying sorry January 11, 2011 BARCLAYS boss Bob Diamond came out fighting at a high-profile public hearing yesterday, insisting it was time for banks to stop apologising for the financial crisis. Appearing before an influential group of MPs, Diamond said “the period of remorse and apology” that followed the banking meltdown needed to end. “The biggest issue is ‘How do [...]
SPOT THE BALL FIRM HUNTS MISSING MONEY January 11, 2011 SPORTECH has lodged an appeal over its claim for over £40m in VAT repayment. The firm submitted a claim in April 2009 for the repayment of VAT overpaid in respect of the “Spot the Ball” game from 1979 to 1996. Sportech claims the VAT was paid in error and should be repaid, possibly with interest. [...]
Number of insolvencies drops from record levels January 10, 2011 CORPORATE insolvencies plummeted by over 17 per cent last year, it was revealed yesterday. The figures show that industry recovered from record high levels of insolvency in 2009. Around 21,000 businesses declared corporate insolvency last year, down from 25,432 in 2009, according to consultants RSM Tenon. “We have seen a record decrease in corporate insolvency [...]