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Rishi Sunak to chair meeting with G7 counterparts on Covid-19 recovery and digital tax reform February 3, 2021 Sunak to chair meeting with G7 counterparts on Covid-19 recovery and digital tax reform
Stamp duty holiday costs government more than £500m in lost taxes February 3, 2021 The government lost out on more than half a billion pounds in taxes due to the stamp duty holiday, according to the latest figures. Data from HM Revenue and Customs (HMRC) showed that overall stamp duty land tax receipts fell 16 per cent to £2.76bn in the fourth quarter of last year, compared to £3.29bn [...]
US jobs bounce back in January despite Covid-19 case surge February 3, 2021 Hiring by private employers in the US bounced back in January despite a continued rise in Covid-19 infections, according to new data. Private payrolls increased by 174,000 jobs last month, according to data from ADP. Previously released figures for December were also revised to show jobs fell by 78,000 rather than 123,000. The numbers are [...]
Cabinet minister rubbishes Sunak’s plan to give Universal Credit claimants one-off £1,000 payment February 3, 2021 Work and pensions secretary Therese Coffey has rubbished Rishi Sunak’s idea of giving a £1,000 lump sum payment to Universal Credit holders in what is a new front in an ongoing cabinet row about welfare payments. Coffey told MPs today that Sunak’s lump sum payment idea, intended to offset a cut in a temporary uplift [...]
University students to receive share of £50m funding amid Covid disruption to teaching February 2, 2021 Universities are set to receive an additional £50m to support financially struggling students amid mounting backlash over continuing fees during the pandemic. The new funding, which comes on top of a £20m package offered to disadvantaged students in December, follows a slew of rent strikes and protests from students. Many have asked for rent on [...]
Property chiefs: Lockdown and end of stamp duty holiday push down house prices February 2, 2021 The most recent drop in house prices is primarily caused by the soon-to-end stamp duty holiday, combined with the UK’s third national lockdown, property professionals told City A.M. this morning. According to new figures, published by Nationwide earlier this morning, January saw property prices fall for the first time in six months as the end [...]
City of London lobby urges EU to grant UK financial services firms widespread access to its markets February 2, 2021 The City of London’s most influential lobby group has urged Brussels to grant Britain’s finance sector wide-ranging post-Brexit access as talks between the UK and EU on financial services continue. The CityUK today called for the EU to grant regulatory equivalence to the sector, while also calling for the UK government to provide more clarity [...]
House prices fall for first time in six months in January February 2, 2021 House prices fell for the first time in six months in January as the end of the stamp duty holiday approached. Nationwide’s annual house price index showed that prices fell 0.3 per cent last month, the first time they have dropped since June. That means the average price for a house, not adjusted for the [...]
Rishi Sunak set to maintain triple tax lock despite Covid-19 deficit February 2, 2021 Chancellor Rishi Sunak is said to have agreed to maintain the Tories’ so-called triple tax lock at next month’s Budget, preventing him from raising income, national insurance or value added tax. The chancellor had come under pressure from Treasury officials to shun the commitment made in the Conservative Party’s 2019 manifesto not to increase rates [...]
The City’s Big Bang 2.0 might well be green-powered February 2, 2021 In the Chancellor’s recent interview with City AM, Sunak said he was confident that Brexit could lead to a new wave of innovation in the City of London and the UK seeing a ‘Big Bang 2.0’. Unfortunately, most of the commentary on business and Brexit has been around the traditional tropes of cutting red tape. [...]