Overseas Income Taxation - The Treasury U-Turn Is Announced
As we covered on this site just a couple of days ago, the Treasury has today announced the much rumoured u-turn on the taxation of foreign dividends for companies based in the UK. While the move has been welcomed by all of the business associations up and down the country, it may have set in motion what could turn out to be a very large problem for the government.
It seems that the fact the government was looking to use successful businesses to fill the black hole in the public purse has not gone unnoticed. We have already seen the likes of Shire Pharmaceuticals relocate to the more tax friendly country of Ireland and there are rumours that more will follow. Even an embarrassing apology from the government might not be enough to stop a number of high profile groups looking to leave the UK. So what next?
The authorities have tried to save face a little by suggesting that they will look at other ways to raise taxes, in conjunction with the CBI, when in reality the idea is dead and buried. It is now starting to get very embarrassing for the government with large parts of the last budget already rewritten after only a few months. The Treasury has a real credibility problem with the City and it will take some time to repair this relationship.
Share this..
Related stories
Bank of England agrees to maintain quantitative easing programme
Bank of England minutes from the September meeting have been released today showing that the vast majority of members voted in favour of maintaining the quantitative easing programme at £175 billion with the potential to increase this in due course if required. This move has been taken well by the currency markets where sterling has moved higher in early trading but there is still some concern ab...
Read MoreHow do the interest rates in the financial sector compare to base rates?
With UK business base rates at 0.5%, and likely to stay there for the foreseeable future, now would seem like a perfect opportunity to compare interest rates across the financial sector against UK base rates. So who is benefiting from reduced base rates?
In the mortgage sector, the situation with regards to two-year and three-year mortgage rates shows that there is currently a margi...
Are nice people paid less in the workplace?
A study by the Institute for Social and Economic Research claims that "nice people" are paid up to £1500 a year less than their more aggressive counterparts in the workplace. While it has been something of a common myth for many years that in order to obtain your "correct" salary you need to leave your employer and return in the future, is this really the case?
Whether this is true...
Bill Gates increases stake in JJB Sports
Bill Gates, who is seen by many as the ultimate entrepreneur, has increased the stake which his charitable foundation holds in JJB Sports. After acquiring shares over the last few days the foundation's stake has risen from 2.82% to 3.14% and injected some life into the share price of JJB Sports. Today the shares were up 13% to just over 28p after the move grabbed the attention of investors.
...
Alistair Darling set to announce VAT cut on Monday
Chancellor Of The Exchequer Alistair Darling is set to announce a 2.5% reduction in UK VAT as part of his pre-budget speech this week. The move is expected to cost the Treasury in the region of £12 billion a year and is expected to be in place for two years. If the rumours are correct it looks as though the rate will fall from 17.5% to 15%, which is the lowest rate allowed under EU regulations.