Cable promises tax crackdown from chancellor November 15, 2012 BUSINESS secretary Vince Cable said yesterday he expects George Osborne to use his upcoming Autumn Statement to address the controversial issue of tax avoidance, after a string of companies were accused of diverting tax revenues away from the UK. Speaking to Sky News, Cable said moves to prevent “systematic abuse” could be announced as early [...]
Cable promises tax crackdown from chancellor November 15, 2012 BUSINESS secretary Vince Cable said yesterday he expects George Osborne to use his upcoming Autumn Statement to address the controversial issue of tax avoidance, after a string of companies were accused of diverting tax revenues away from the UK. Speaking to Sky News, Cable said moves to prevent “systematic abuse” could be announced as early [...]
HMRC funds to fight avoidance December 5, 2012 HMRC will receive an additional £77m to fight tax avoidance following yesterday’s announcement. There will also be new restrictions on the tax arrangements of firms that bid for government business, something that could have an adverse effect on outsourcers. Jason Collins of law firm Pinsent Masons said: “Reading between the lines, companies will not get government [...]
Google is spared the public’s anger over UK tax spat November 20, 2012 LAST week executives from Amazon, Google and Starbucks appeared before the House of Commons public accounts committee to discuss the issue of tax avoidance, which led to some calls for consumers to boycott big brands that are accused of not paying their fair share. But how is brand perception actually impacted by these sort of [...]
Barnes & Noble Nook losses grow November 29, 2012 Barnes & Noble said yesterday that the quarterly loss in its Nook division increased as the bookseller increased spending on its e-readers and tablets to keep pace with larger rivals Amazon.com and Apple. Overall revenue in the quarter slipped 0.4 per cent to $1.88bn, while retail sales, still its biggest segment by far, fell 2.9 [...]
John Lewis boss urges action on foreign firm tax payments November 14, 2012 THE managing director of retail chain John Lewis last night called on the government to examine the way foreign multinationals pay tax in the UK. Andy Street said the Treasury needs to do more to prevent the likes of online retailer Amazon “destroying the UK tax base” and potentially putting British companies out of business. [...]
eBay beats the street as sales jump upwards January 16, 2013 EBAY yesterday reported quarterly results that just beat Wall Street expectations, but the e-commerce giant also gave a cautious forecast for the year ahead. Fourth-quarter revenue jumped 18 per cent to $3.99bn (£2.49bn). Profit came in at $927m, or 70 cents a share in the period. That compares with profit of $789m, or 60 cents [...]
Letters to the editor January 17, 2013 HMV revisited [Re: The rise and fall of HMV: Why great companies find it so hard to adapt, Wednesday] The demise of HMV is, of course, sad. I was its finance director between 1983 and 1987, and the growth in those days was stellar. Revenue grew fourfold, and profit growth was even higher. During that period, cassette [...]
Letters to the Editor January 15, 2013 What killed HMV [Re: HMV’s demise shows why even giant firms have feet of clay, yesterday] The news about HMV was sad. I project-managed the development of its online presence in 2005, as part of its rebranding. The rebranding of HMV was undertaken by IBM, which managed the whole exercise, but one of the depressing points [...]
Tech giants conspicuous by their absences January 7, 2013 TAKE a look at the roster of companies vying for attention at this year’s Consumer Electronics Show – Samsung, Sony and Intel – and the names not on that list stand out as much as those on it. The most recognisable names in technology today – Apple, Google and Microsoft – will be nowhere to [...]