CGT exemption rules clarified by Treasury December 10, 2013 HOMEOWNERS selling a property in which they previously lived will be given until April 2015 to complete the sale before they must pay capital gains tax on the property, the Treasury confirmed yesterday. The news comes after George Osborne announced in the Autumn Statement last week that the tax-free period for people letting their former [...]
Blockbuster shutdown sees 1,200 jobs axed December 5, 2013 More than 1,200 jobs are to be lost as Blockbuster shuts up shop, reports Sky News. No buyer has been found for the high street store's 153 shops, meaning administrator Moorfields is to close it down by the end of the year. 62 Blockbusters are set to close over the next few days with job [...]
US just stole Osborne’s limelight as it becomes rich world’s fastest growing economy December 5, 2013 US stock futures are now turning negative ahead of the market open at 2.30pm. That's because US economic data has been really good, and equities investors are petrified that the Fed will take away monetary support from the economy. Annualised GDP for the third quarter has been revised up to 3.6 per cent from 3.0 [...]
More cash for apprenticeships and cap on university places is lifted December 5, 2013 A RAFT of measures on education were announced as part of the Autumn Statement yesterday. The chancellor focused on policies to encourage more apprenticeships and additional university places to cater for increased demand. On apprenticeships, Osborne announced that money will now go direct to providers from HMRC. An extra £40m will be invested over two [...]
Government unveils draft laws for new shale gas tax breaks December 9, 2013 THE GOVERNMENT today published draft legislation to bring in tax breaks for shale gas, as it aims to incentivise new investment into the industry. As outlined in last week’s Autumn Statement, tax on a portion of a company’s production profits – today confirmed at 75 per cent of the amount invested – will be slashed [...]
Timid new policies do little to address the risks behind Osborne’s good news December 5, 2013 FOR THE first time since before the financial crisis, the chancellor of the Exchequer was able to stand up and announce some good news at the Autumn Statement yesterday: the deficit, the labour market, and growth are all better than expected. Alistair Darling started by predicting a “trampoline” recovery when the recession first hit, with [...]
Labour would include pension in welfare cap December 9, 2013 LABOUR would include the state pension in a welfare cap, the shadow chief secretary to the Treasury Chris Leslie has said. Speaking on the BBC’s Daily Politics show yesterday, Leslie said that pensions should be considered part of the cap in the long term as people continue to live longer. His comments come just days [...]
Nobel laureate celebrates £270m investment in quantum research December 5, 2013 NOBEL laureate Peter Higgs, the theoretical physicist who discovered the so-called God particle, applauded the government’s decision to support future scientific discoveries as part of its £270m funding for quantum technology. The fund will support UK quantum research, which takes advantage of the behaviour of materials on an extremely small scale, as it is applied [...]
Osborne’s wrong: Government investment doesn’t equal growth March 13, 2014 IF I wanted to come home with a 60 inch plasma TV tomorrow, I might try to persuade Mrs Knox that it was an “investment”. She would rightly say, maybe rather forcefully, that this was not an investment since, as there could be no possible financial return, this was just spending. So a few weeks [...]
Welfare row as Osborne says cuts are needed December 12, 2013 THE NEXT government will need to cut billions of pounds more off the welfare budget if other services are not to suffer, George Osborne told MPs yesterday. His warning runs directly counter to his deputy, Liberal Democrat Danny Alexander who has reassured his party he does not want “ideologically driven” spending cuts. “I think the next government will [...]