Good news – the evidence is in from across the Atlantic, and tax cuts benefit everyone November 7, 2018 From discussions on how the UK should reform its tax and regulatory landscape to make the most of post-Brexit opportunities, to the rallies midterm election candidates have been holding across the US championing or lambasting the President’s tax cuts, the debate is still raging about how changes to taxes impact economies. But if you need [...]
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 [...]
EU leaders split on plans for a European digital tax November 6, 2018 EU member states have failed to reach a consensus on imposing an EU-wide digital services tax, which affects firms such as Facebook and Alphabet, over fears of potential US retaliation. The plan, which requires approval from all 28 EU member states, is opposed by many. The levy would see a three per cent tax placed [...]
Forget Trump, the midterms are about populism November 6, 2018 When the results of the US midterms start to come in this evening, some here in the UK will roll their eyes and think “what a crazy country”. Others will wonder why Britain and America are such anomalies with Brexit and Trump, and wish that we could be more like, say, Germany. The truth is [...]
Work should pay – for both high and low earners November 6, 2018 In a tense standoff with Labour MP Wes Streeting last night, chancellor Philip Hammond defended his decision to reduce the burden of income tax in the autumn Budget. The argument, played out in front of the Treasury Select Committee, was classic Tory v Labour fare. Streeting demanded to know why Hammond was cutting taxes instead of [...]
Brussels ups the ante over Italy budget November 5, 2018 Eurozone finance ministers stood their ground against the Italian government tonight, as it urged policymakers in Rome to revise its draft budget to align with European rules. The European Commission rejected Italy’s free-spending draft budget plan last month and ordered the government to submit a revised budget by 13 November. The EU’s economic and financial [...]
Hammond spies end of UK’s deficit despite Budget spending increase November 5, 2018 Chancellor Philip Hammond has said he believes the government’s target of eliminating the UK’s deficit is “within touching distance”, despite ramping up public spending and tax cuts in the Budget. Appearing before the Treasury Select Committee this evening, Hammond denied his 2016 plans to reach a budget surplus by the mid-2020s had been abandoned. However, he [...]
EU firms scramble to stay in the City in no-deal Brexit November 5, 2018 More than 1,000 EU firms have expressed their interest in taking up the UK's offer of continued access to the City in the event of a no-deal Brexit, according to the Financial Conduct Authority (FCA). The City watchdog's international director Nausicaa Delfas said around 1,300 EU firms were seeking to trade within the FCA's temporary [...]
It’s time to go with the flow: The UK needs to accept global economic competition and come out on top November 4, 2018 | City Talk UK 1-1 Rest of the world. So reads the scoreboard from two recent corporate stories: Dyson’s decision to produce its electric cars in Singapore and Unilever’s to stay put in London. With Brexit beckoning, there is more focus than ever in Britain on its place in the world, and how that can be affected by [...]
Mark Kleinman: Financial Reporting Council must offer clarity on Haddrill’s future November 2, 2018 The 900 UK partners at PwC were unable to deduce much from a voicemail left for them this week by their boss, Kevin Ellis, about its plans for the future of the UK audit market. His message was “very top-level”, according to one person who heard it: the details of its blueprint, submitted to the [...]