Clampdown on profit transfers from UK firms March 19, 2014 A CRACKDOWN on tax avoidance in yesterday’s Budget will extend a scheme to limit avoidance through transferring profits internationally. Chancellor George Osborne said that HM Revenue & Customs would try to net more firms that it suspects are moving profit overseas to avoid UK tax, extending a move taken in December’s Autumn Statement. The change comes [...]
How the Office for Budget Responsibility could decide Britain’s next government June 25, 2014 THIS summer, the Office for Budget Responsibility (OBR) will review its estimates of the supply-side potential of the economy. Not exactly something that will have the tabloid headline writers holding their breath. But the implications of this largely technocratic exercise could be significant in the context of next year’s general election. The coalition staked its [...]
Osborne doubles annual investment fund for companies to £500,000 until end of 2015 March 19, 2014 THE MAJOR change for business investment in the Budget comes from a doubling of the investment allowance, which rises to £500,000 from next month. The annual investment allowance has been on a roller coaster ride in the past four years. In its 2010 Budget, the previous government raised it from £50,000 to £100,000. By the [...]
Mike Ashley’s Sports Direct gives up naming rights to Rangers Ibrox Stadium and loans club an extra £1m November 12, 2014 Mike Ashley has given up his rights to rename Rangers football club’s Ibrox stadium and loaned the struggling club an additional £1m. The Sports Direct owner, who also owns a stake in the Scottish club, bought the naming rights two years ago for just £1, but the deal was only revealed in September. The miniscule [...]
Four reasons Osborne should abolish the Budget March 10, 2014 IN EIGHT days, George Osborne will deliver the penultimate Budget of this Parliament. Despite little indication of what it will contain, newspapers are already rife with speculation, organisations are pushing their favourite policy hobby-horses, broadcasters are booking Budget Day interviewees, and commentators are salivating about what a minor tax cut here, or spending pledge there, [...]
Pensioner bonds unveiled to help ageing savers March 19, 2014 PENSIONERS will be able to buy high yielding saving bonds from January next year, amid vote-winning moves by government to help ageing savers hit by historically low interest rates. National Savings and Investment plans to issue up to £10bn worth of bonds paying interest rates closer to the rate of inflation. The plans for the [...]
Banks hit out at Osborne fiddling with levy February 24, 2014 THE BANK levy puts Britain’s lenders at a competitive disadvantage to other countries, the British Bankers’ Association has told George Osborne. The group also argue that the chancellor’s constant fiddling with the tax is damaging as banks cannot predict how much they will pay over. The charge is levied on banks’ balance sheets, taking 0.156 per cent of [...]
Formidable All Blacks to continue impressive international record November 6, 2014 HARRY MADLEY PREVIEWS ENGLAND’S FIRST AUTUMN INTERNATIONAL AND BEN CLEMINSON LOOKS AT LIVERPOOL V CHELSEA WITH just over 10 months until the start of the 2015 World Cup Stuart Lancaster’s England side can make a bold statement to the rugby world as they attempt to overcome the power, flare and experience of New Zealand tomorrow [...]
Partnership tax threat could send fund managers abroad February 3, 2014 DOZENS of London’s fund managers are considering switching from a partnership to a company structure, and could even move abroad in the face of George Osborne’s planned tax crackdown, an industry think-tank has warned. Half of the New City Initiative’s members would consider incorporating rather than keep their status as a limited liability partnership (LLP), [...]
Npower cuts bills by 2.6 per cent January 8, 2014 Npower has announced it will be cutting its average energy bill by 2.6 per cent. Around 2.6m duel-fuel customers will benefit to the tune of £50. The primary price reduction will come into affect from 28 February. Npower is the last of the Big Six to announce a cut in energy prices after the government [...]