Budget 2017 UK: Philip Hammond targets tech giants Apple, Amazon, Google and Facebook on tax avoidance to raise £200m a year November 22, 2017 The chancellor has put tech firms firmly in his sights, announcing a change to the way online businesses are taxed from which he hopes to boost the government’s coffers by £200m. Philip Hammond said he will introduce a “tax on royalties” that means companies will have to pay tax on royalty payments that are made [...]
Flying high: Angling Direct hooks in revenues as physical stores prove to be a big catch October 8, 2018 Angling Direct reeled in a sharp rise in turnover over the first half of 2018, amid burgeoning sales that were bolstered by European expansion and UK store growth. The group today posted a 55 per cent rise in revenue in the first six months of the year, jumping to £21.9m, on the back of a [...]
Amazon’s share price has fallen – meaning Jeff Bezos isn’t the richest man in the world any more July 28, 2017 It’s all over for Amazon founder Jeff Bezos, who briefly became the richest man in the world yesterday, before seeing his fortune take a dive after the company’s second quarter earnings missed expectations. Today shares fell further, dropping four per cent to $1,005 on the opening bell in New York, pushing the company’s market capitalisation [...]
Hammond’s digital tax is an illogical game of whack-a-mole November 7, 2018 The introduction of a new digital services tax was the most depressingly inevitable part of Philip Hammond’s Budget speech last week. Years of pressure from a pincer movement of corporate tax moralists and traditional retailers have paid off. Starting in April 2020, profitable digital businesses with £500m in global revenues would face a two per cent [...]
Golden quarter could bring Christmas cheer to struggling British retailers November 9, 2018 Retailers might find seasonal cheer in an early Christmas present as experts predict a strong final quarter to the year. Sales in the sector are expected to tick up by two per cent year-on-year, according to analytics company Global Data. The increase will be driven by food and groceries, which are expected to grow 2.5 [...]
Amazon share price surges on strong earnings as sales rise by more than a third and cloud services boost profit October 26, 2017 Amazon shares rose more than seven per cent in after-hours trading, after the tech giant announced better than expected earnings and sales up by a third. Read more: Banks should be worried about Amazon rather than fintech, says McKinsey The figures Amazon beat expectations with a 34 per cent rise in sales to $43.7bn for [...]
Futuristic entrepreneurs are helping us reach for the stars March 11, 2019 Houston, there is no problem. America is back in the space race. “We’re really at the forefront,” says US President Trump. “Nobody is doing what we’re doing.” He’s right. But in a break with tradition, the US is now leaning on its entrepreneurs, rather than the Federal Reserve, to fund its interplanetary aspirations. The latest [...]
Tesco has formed a strategic alliance with French supermarket chain Carrefour to enhance competition July 2, 2018 Tesco and Carrefour are teaming up to beat the competition, in a strategic alliance announced this morning. A joint statement issued by the companies say the alliance will cover their relationships with global suppliers, its joint purchasing of all own-brand products, and any goods not for resale. The deal should force prices for own-brand products [...]
Tech giants stumble as Wall Street fails to recover from nightmare week October 15, 2018 The big five US tech companies dropped over $30bn (£23bn) from their market value yesterday as Wall Street struggled to bounce back from a nightmare week. Netflix recovered slightly after an initial three per cent drop when the share’s target price was slashed by Raymond James and Goldman Sachs. Read more: Snap to challenge Netflix [...]
City law firm criticises HMRC’s use of informants to claw back receipts from tax evaders August 28, 2018 A city law firm has criticised HM Revenue and Customs (HMRC) for paying informants to provide details on possible tax evasion, saying there were "ethical risks" tied to the practice. RPC said the practice of paying informants opened up the risk of increased data theft as disgruntled employees with an axe to grind could be persuaded into [...]