The Financial Services Authority has ordered the big four banks to conduct a review into all interest rate hedging products they may have mis-sold to small businesses and to compensate the firms accordingly. Continue reading
Monthly Archives: January 2013
Switzerland Hands Over Tax
The tax agreement between the UK and Switzerland, which was struck in August 2011 and came into force on 1 January 2013, has just delivered £342m to the Treasury in the first tranche of revenue from UK taxpayers in Switzerland. Continue reading
Tax Upon Tax
According to new research by the Taxpayers’ Alliance, taxes will have been increased almost 300 times by the coalition Government before its term of office ends in 2015. Continue reading
New Bank Governor To Put Growth At Top Of His Agenda
Speaking at the World Economic Forum in Davos over the weekend, incoming Governor of the Bank of England, Mark Carney, said he will be putting growth at the heart of his approach to the job and is willing to see higher inflation for longer in order to support the economy. Continue reading
Fears For Triple Dip
Figures from the Office for National Statistics (ONS) show today that the UK economy shrank by 0.3 per cent in the last three months of 2012, fuelling fears that the economy could re-enter recession. Continue reading
Jobless Total Falls
According to official data from the Office for National Statistics published yesterday (January 23rd), the level of unemployment in the UK has fallen to 2.49 million, its lowest level for 18 months. Continue reading
Businesses Paying More Tax
Despite the recent cut in corporation tax, in real terms, companies in the UK have faced tax rises of 19 per cent in recent years, as various other taxes on business, including VAT and property rates, have risen by 58 per cent since 2005. Continue reading
Taxman Adopts Tougher Stance On Prosecution And Tax Evasion
It is expected that the Director of Public Prosecutions, Keir Starmer, will unveil plans later this week that will see the number of tax files handled by the Crown Prosecution Service (CPS) increase fivefold to 1,500 a year by 2014-15. Continue reading
QE Has Limited Influence On Growth
According to the newest member of the Bank of England’s Monetary Policy Committee (MPC), the Bank’s quantitative easing programme (QE) is no longer as effective as it was and could have “inflationary consequences” if extended. Continue reading
Retail Sales Disappoint
According to the Office for National Statistics, retail sales fell at a seasonally adjusted 0.1 per cent in December from the month before, while compared with the same month in 2011, the quantity of goods sold rose a worse than expected 0.3 per cent. Continue reading