OECD ranking: The award for the country with the world’s most competitive tax system goes to… November 11, 2021 Estonia tops the rankings in a new report by the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) that was published today by the Tax Foundation, a tax policy non-profit in the U.S. The ranking zooms in on the the most competitive tax regimes around the world. Estonia’s top score is driven by a 20 per [...]
Budget: Government risks lost generation of self-employed Brits, warns tax leader October 27, 2021 Ahead of the Budget today, the Chancellor has been urged to resist introducing further tax changes that offer ‘quick wins’ for the economy but deal long-term, or even permanent, damage to the UK’s self-employed workforce. After breaking a Conservative manifesto pledge in September by announcing the social care levy, which will see national insurance and [...]
Exclusive: HMRC’s capital gains tax receipts hit record £11.5bn while Budget increase looms October 26, 2021 There has been much speculation around whether Chancellor Rishi Sunak will increase capital gains tax rates during tomorrow’s budget, which could result in business owners and individuals paying significantly more when they come to sell assets. The increase looms despite HMRC receipts from CGT having risen by 62 per cent in the last five years, [...]
Businesses face being hit by £2.4bn national insurance ‘tax bombshell’, Lib Dems warn October 25, 2021 The Government is creating a “tax bombshell” for small and medium-sized businesses by raising national insurance, the Liberal Democrats warned. Research commissioned by the party said businesses with fewer than 250 employees would pay an extra £2.4bn a year due to the 1.25 per cent rise in national insurance (NI) announced by Boris Johnson in [...]
Council taxes need to rise by at least 10 per cent to afford social care, warns Age UK October 16, 2021 Council tax would need to be hiked by 10 per cent on average next year if social care is to “stand still”, according to a charity calling for an urgent central government cash injection. Chancellor Rishi Sunak’s decisions in the autumn spending review will determine whether social care services “wither and die”, stand still or [...]
Breakthrough week for historic corporate tax deal: 140 nations including Ireland are on board October 9, 2021 The international community is moving towards sweeping changes to how big multinational companies are taxed to prevent them from stashing profits in offshore havens where they pay little or no tax after 140 countries have agreed to sign the deal. Under the agreement, countries would enact a global minimum corporate tax of 15 per cent [...]
Nick Clegg says Facebook is ‘pleased’ with historic tax deal, even if it means paying more October 9, 2021 Nick Clegg, Facebook’s vice president for global affairs, said today the social media giant welcomes the corporate tax agreement that 140 countries around the world agreed this week. “We are pleased to see an emerging international consensus,” Clegg said in a statement sent to Morning Wire this afternoon. Under the agreement, countries would enact a [...]
Letters: UK Hospitality says VATsEnough October 8, 2021 [Re: Boris Johnson expected to reveal ‘national living wage’ hike, Wednesday]Hospitality businesses are being battered by a perfect storm of labour shortages, disruption to supply and escalating food and utility costs. Margins are being squeezed as they try to rebuild. Contrary to some perceptions, wages in hospitality have increased steadily, by approximately 20 per cent [...]
Council tax rise needed just for town halls to keep services running, warn fiscal analysts October 7, 2021 Millions of Brits across the UK face steep rises in council taxes as they need to climb by up to 5 per cent a year for the next three years to keep services running and pay for social care reforms, an influential think tank warned this morning. The Institute for Fiscal Studies (IFS) said that [...]
HMRC annual pension stats: ‘The genie is well and truly out of the bottle’ October 4, 2021 HMRC published its annual update to personal and stakeholder pensions statistics at the end of last week. The document included an update on the impact of the lifetime and annual allowance tax charges. Moreover, HMRC also shared the most recent data for flexible pension payments under the pension freedoms rules. Scrutinising the data for City [...]