UK residents holding cash and investments with Swiss banks are to be taxed by Swiss authorities, with the money then handed over to HM Revenue and Customs (HMRC). A deal has been agreed between governments whereby account holders can retain their anonymity but will be forced to make their contribution to the Treasury. HMRC expects [...]
China‘s property prices have remained stubbornly high despite several Government initiatives to avoid a property bubble. The Government recently announced plans to introduce a property tax. Shanghai Mayor Han Zheng said it is preparing for the “trial reform on property tax as required by the central Government”. It has also made it more expensive to [...]
HSBC, which is Europe’s largest bank, has once again denied rumours that it is planning to relocate its UK headquarters to Hong Kong. A report in the Sunday Telegraph quoted an unnamed, investor as saying “we were told that a move [to Hong Kong] is now more than likely”. However, the bank has refuted the [...]
Mervyn King, the Bank of England’s Governor, has expressed his support for breaking up banks - measures that would shake-up the UK’s banking industry. Mr King’s comments come shortly after the Independent Commission on Banking (ICB) said it was looking at ways to increase competition and choice among high street banks. One option could see [...]
Chancellor George Osborne has today announced that UK banks will have until next month to sign up to a code of practice, in a bid to get them to pay more tax. Speaking to BBC television today, Mr Osborne said: “We are going to be looking at the code of practice that the banks were [...]
Leading think tank, the Centre for Economics and Business Research (CEBR), has unveiled City bankers will be in receipt of a bonus pot of £7.3 billion this year. The total is 4% lower than last year’s total and considerably lower than the £11 billion paid out at the height of the banking boom in 2007. [...]
US banking giant Goldman Sachs has today announced profits dived 82% in the second quarter to $453 million. The figures represented the worst quarter since the height of the financial crisis - almost two years ago and were hit by the British bonus levy and a US fraud settlement. Commenting, Lloyd Blankfein chief executive, said: [...]
Banks are being urged to show compassion when allocating bonuses this year - in light of the cost-cutting measures in the public and private sectors. Financial Secretary to the Treasury, Mark Hoban, said banks need to be mindful during the forthcoming bonus season - at a time when pay restraints are being implemented across the [...]
Influential think tank, the National Institute of Economic and Social Research (NIESR), believes taxes will increase sharply in the next ten years, in order to cut the UK’s budget deficit. According to a report by the Institute, taxes would have to rise by the equivalent of 6p on the basic income tax rate to bring [...]
The traditional practice of leaving an inheritance is being replaced with a “pre-inheritance”. Nearly half (46%) of British adults have received a pre-inheritance, money given to them out of the estate of a benefactor who has yet to die. However, the new trend could already be on the wane, with just 17% of over-55s saying [...]
Savers are being urged to make full use of this year’s ISA allowance before the 5 April deadline. Unbiased.co.uk warned that Brits are set to unnecessarily spend £35 million on tax this year because they haven’t bothered to put their savings into an ISA. Research by the financial advice website found that 5.9 million adults [...]
The Pre-Election Budget will be delivered today by Chancellor Alistair Darling but he has repeatedly said there will be no “giveaways” ahead of the general election. What we can expect to see, though, are more details of how the Government expects to trim the budget deficit. Mr Darling has previously pledged to halve the budget [...]
Bill Nighy has pledged his support for a campaign to impose a “Robin Hood tax” on speculative financial transactions between banks. The actor, famous for his roles in Pirates of the Caribbean and Love Actually, has joined forces with director Richard Curtis to make a three-minute film explaining how the tax would work. In the [...]
French Finance Minister Christine Lagarde has today unveiled details of a 50% tax on bankers’ bonuses. After a cabinet meeting today, Ms Lagarde told reporters that a bill detailing the new tax would be presented to parliament early in the New Year. Any bonus above €27,500 (£24,000) will be taxed at a rate of 50% [...]
Today is the day of the Pre-Budget Report and Chancellor Alistair Darling will give more detailed plans about how the Government intends to halve the £180 billion deficit. Moody’s credit rating agency has warned that Britain is facing a “fiscal crisis” unless the Government takes action to pay off the debt or risk losing its [...]
A report by the National Audit Office (NAO) has revealed that around 1.5 million pensioners have made overpayments in income tax due to processing errors. Furthermore, the NAO revealed that around 3.2 million were neglecting to take up their allowance entitlements. The watchdog also estimated that half a million pensions have underpaid tax, by an [...]
Brits are handing over £144 million to the government in taxes they don’t need to pay by failing to put their savings in a tax-free account. Research by Unbiased.co.uk found £109 million is being wasted by 6.2 million savers who don’t keep their savings in a tax-free cash ISA account. Some 1.7 million shareholders are [...]
Budget airline easyJet is to close its base at East Midlands airport and cut services at Luton Airport by a fifth with a view to transferring them to profitable bases in continental Europe. Luton is one of easyJet’s biggest bases and operates 16 aircraft and carries almost 5 million passengers each year. Meanwhile, the low-cost [...]
The chairman of the Financial Services Authority is supporting a new tax on banks, aimed at curbing the bonus culture in the City. In an interview with Prospect magazine, Lord Turner attacked the industry and said some of the City’s activities had “swollen beyond its socially useful size” and was happy to consider taxing it. [...]
HM Revenue & Customs (HMRC) has embarked on a new campaign in order to get millions of pounds of unpaid tax from offshore bank accounts and has used the 2009 Budget to introduce the new “offshore disclosure opportunity” which will run until March 2010. It is an invitation to people with offshore accounts to disclose [...]
Tullow Oil leads 100 in London
European equities markets were significantly lower Friday on an increased possibility that Greece could default on its debt as soon as this weekend, raising the concern level over the European region’s debt problems and ratcheting up worries that the economic recovery is faltering. Additionally, markets reacted to the resignation of European Central Bank board member [...]
SMMT: UK car sales rise in August
The Society of Motor Manufacturers and Traders (SMMT) have revealed UK car sales saw their first rise in 14 months in August. According to the trade body, car sales rose by 7.3% in August compared with the same month in 2010, with sales of smaller cars rising by more than 30%. The Ford Fiesta remained [...]
Factory gate inflation higher than expected in August
The Office for National Statistics (ONS) has today revealed UK producer output prices held steady in August – remaining at the highest annual rate since October 2008. According to the ONS, output prices (factory gate) annual inflation for all manufactured products held steady at July’s upwardly revised reading of 6.1% in August. The figures were [...]
US exports surge, Obama unveils jobs plan
The Commerce Department has revealed US exports hit an all-time high in July, while imports fell. According to official figures, exports surged 3.8% to $178 billion (£111 billion) after two months of declines. The rise in exports was attributed to strong overseas sales of manufactured goods, particularly to countries in Central and South America. Meanwhile, [...]
China’s inflation rate eases in August
Inflation in the world’s second largest economy eased last month after reaching a 3-year high in July. According to the National Statistics Bureau, consumer prices rose by 6.2% in August on an annual basis, compared with 6.5% the previous month. Several other economies throughout the world are battling with higher inflation, particularly in Asia, which [...]
Japanese economy continues to struggle
The Cabinet Office has today revealed the world’s third largest economy performed worse than originally thought in the April to June period. Gross Domestic Product (GDP) contracted by 2.1% on an annual basis in the three-month period, compared with an initial estimate of 1.3%. The fall was attributed to a cut back on spending by [...]
Euro zone interest rates remain on hold
The European Central Bank (ECB) has today opted to leave interest rates unchanged at 1.5% - for the second consecutive month. Rates were lifted from the historic low of 1% in April and then raised further to 1.25% in July in a bid to curb rising inflation. Many major economies are battling with higher inflation, [...]
Trader Glencore International up 7.58 percent
European equities markets saw gains Thursday as the Bank of England held interest rates steady at 0.5 percent and kept its bond-purchase program at £200 billion, while the European Central Bank also held rates steady, at 1.5 percent, but the ECB cut growth predictions for both this year and next year. The FSTE 100 added [...]
Fed: US economy remains sluggish
The latest Beige Book report, published by the Federal Reserve today, has revealed widespread signs that US economic growth continues to slow. The Fed said: “Economic activity continued to expand at a modest pace, though some districts noted mixed or weakening activity.” The economic recovery of the US remains sluggish in the face of higher [...]
UK interest rates remain on hold
The Bank of England’s Monetary Policy Committee (MPC) has today elected to keep UK interest rates on hold at the historically low level of 0.5%, as widely expected. Interest rates have now been at this low level since March 2009 – when the economy was in the midst of recession. Recent figures show the economy [...]
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