Don’t reward HMRC’s massive failure September 16, 2010 THERE is nothing worse than rewards for failure – somebody should have made that clear to Her Majesty’s Revenue and Customs (HMRC), the UK’s woefully underperforming tax body. Rather than displaying some much-needed humility after disastrously miscalculating the pay-as-you-earn (PAYE) income taxes of millions of people, and failing in many other ways over the years, [...]
WHAT THE OTHER PAPERS SAY THIS MORNING September 16, 2010 FINANCIAL TIMES VODAFONE BALKS AT BEING FORCED SELLER Vodafone’s chief executive has warned that he will not be “forced” into selling the UK group’s minority stakes in four mobile phone operators. Vittorio Colao insisted that the sale this month of Vodafone’s 3.2 per cent stake in China Mobile for £4.3bn ($6.7bn) was not done in [...]
IMPACT OF VAT September 16, 2010 Q.As a small business-owner, what do I need to know about the VAT increase? A.The standard rate of VAT is 17.5 per cent at the moment but this will be rising to 20 per cent in three months time. If you are a business that issues VAT invoices, then you must use the 20 per [...]
WHAT THE OTHER PAPERS SAY THIS MORNING September 15, 2010 FINANCIAL TIMES BOND STRATEGY LED TO BIG WIN AFTER LEHMAN The collapse of Lehman Brothers and central banks’ unorthodox monetary policies distorted markets to create some of the biggest pricing anomalies ever documented in bond trading, according to research from leading US academics. A paper from the US National Bureau of Economic Research claims to [...]
Tax boss performs U-turn to apologise for PAYE blunders September 12, 2010 BRITAIN’S top tax official was forced into an embarrassing U-turn this weekend after initially refusing to apologise to more than a million people facing surprise bills. Dave Hartnett, permanent secretary for tax at HM Revenue and Customs (HMRC), said he was “deeply sorry” that administrative errors meant 1.4m people would have to pay an average [...]
How to deal with an HMRC letter September 9, 2010 LETTERS have started to drop onto the doormats of Britons advising them that they did not pay the correct amount of tax through the pay as you earn (PAYE) system during the tax years 2008-10. Those affected are likely to be those with complex streams of income. The government argued that the state of the [...]
Diamond is the right man for the job September 7, 2010 GOOD on Barclays for promoting Bob Diamond, head of the bank’s investment banking unit, to be the firm’s overall chief executive. He is the best man for the job, proving himself again with the successful integration of Lehman’s US operations. Yet given Diamond’s demonisation in the broadcast media and popular press, not least by the [...]
Pack a tax plan if you want a retirement on the beach September 2, 2010 IF YOU are tempted to spend your golden years in the sun and escape overcrowded, polluted London, you are not alone. Emigration from the UK reached a record high in 2008 and that was before the introduction of a 50 per cent higher tax rate and the impending austerity measures. But planning is essential if [...]
PERSONAL FINANCE NEWS August 12, 2010 BEWARE PHONE CALL SCAM HM Revenue & Customs has issued a warning to taxpayers after reports that thieves were making phone calls pretending to be the taxman. According to reports, fraudsters say that you are due a tax rebate and ask for your bank details over the phone. They then try to gain access to [...]
Victory for Portsmouth in tax battle August 5, 2010 PORTSMOUTH claimed a monumental victory yesterday after it was saved from the brink of liquidation by a High Court ruling. The debt-ridden club were handed a lifeline after HM Revenue and Customs lost an appeal to block a proposed Company Voluntary Agreement (CVA) to help the club out of administration. Instead, Mr Justice Mann ordered [...]