Budget 2015: Business rates could get a major overhaul in the budget as George Osborne reveals reform review plans March 15, 2015 A long-overdue review of how business rates are calculated could be in the chancellor’s package of budget promises designed to woo businesses in the run up to the General Election. George Osborne pleased British businesses by initially pledging that a review would take place in his Autumn Statement last year. Now further plans are set [...]
House prices in London to fall this year for the first time since 2009 as stamp duty hits property prices April 13, 2015 House price growth in the whole of the UK is about to outstrip London for the first time since 2009, a think tank reckons, after stamp duty and the mansion tax combined to scare buyers. Research published by the Centre for Economic and Business Research (CEBR) today suggests house prices in the capital will actually [...]
General Election 2015: Lib Dems and Conservatives clash over personal tax allowance April 5, 2015 The Liberal Democrats have accused the Conservatives of unfairly taking credit for changes to personal tax allowance in the UK. In 2016/2017, the minimum income at which people have to start paying tax will go up from £10,600 to £10,800. This will rise again to £11,000 in 2017/2018. The move was introduced by the coalition [...]
Revealed: How the mansion tax could cost taxpayers £175m April 20, 2015 More than 120,000 households could face a bill of up to £4,800 each to have their property revalued thanks to Ed Miliband's mansion tax. The total cost to homeowners of revaluing their properties would come to around £110m, according to upmarket estate agent Savills. But it's not only owners of high-end property who are in [...]
Ted Baker posts dramatic jump in third quarter sales November 19, 2015 Retailer Ted Baker's sales soared double-digits in the third quarter thanks to a popular autumn/winter line and international store openings, the company reported in an statement this morning. Sales rose 20.5 per cent in the last three months while store sales jumped 18 per cent with openings in Stansted Airport, Amsterdam, Malibu, Toronto and Hawaii. [...]
George Osborne likes to think the unthinkable: Now he should abolish the Budget March 16, 2015 It’s a well-known saying that “turkeys don’t vote for Christmas”. So calling for George Osborne to take to the despatch box tomorrow and announce that he’s abolishing future Budgets – in turn, greatly diminishing the Treasury’s power – might seem a fanciful plea. In truth, it’s about as likely as Ed Miliband offering journalists the [...]
Jeremy Browne: George Osborne has given up making the case for a smaller state March 19, 2015 George Osborne has given up making the case for a smaller state and conceded ground to the Labour party, according to a former government minister. Speaking at a post-Budget briefing hosted by the Taxpayers' Alliance and the Institute of Economic Affairs, ex-home and foreign office minister Jeremy Browne said Osborne was failing to make the [...]
Fed rate hike: What you need to know about ahead of Janet Yellen’s big decision on US interest rates, from why it’s important to when it’s announced December 16, 2015 The world is waiting on tenterhooks for the outcome of the Federal Reserve’s monetary policy meeting, with the US central bank widely expected to announce its first interest rate hike in nearly a decade tonight. Barring “unanticipated shocks”, Fed members are expected to vote to lift rates by quarter to half a percentage point from their current historic low. After [...]
Everything you need to know about non-doms: Who are they, what tax do they pay, why does Labour want to ban them April 8, 2015 Ed Miliband appears to be making the political weather today with his pledge to abolish non-domiciled tax status. However, Ed Balls' warning back in January that abolishing the non-dom status could actually cost Britain money has come back to haunt Labour spinners. Here are the basics of everything you need to know about non-doms and [...]
North Sea tax break for oil firms expected in next Budget February 25, 2015 The Chancellor is likely to announce new tax breaks for North Sea oil firms in his upcoming Budget. George Osborne met industry body Oil & Gas UK yesterday to discuss the future of the offshore oil and gas sector. The group’s chief executive Malcolm Webb said he came away from the meeting feeling “encouraged”. [...]