Back in April of this year Alistair Darling slipped a shock announcement in the small print of his Budget statement. I reported these in a previous post UK Budget Bombshell for Second Home Owners. You should read the earlier post for full details but basically Mr Darling announced that with effect from April 2010, the [...]
The controversial tax which was introduced by Gordon Brown shortly after he became Chancellor has proven to cost far more to administer than the cash it has raised. Gordon Brown has long had the typical socialist view of business owners which sees them all as crooks only concerned with paying as little tax as possible. Tax [...]
The Liberal Democrat Shadow Chancellor has been a stern critic of the Isle of Man, calling us a haven for tax dodgers. He also demanded that the Isle of Man be closed as a ‘tax haven’ and for banks receiving investment from the UK Government to shut offshore operations. Despite that he accepted an invitation [...]
There are stunned expressions on the faces of Isle of Man politicians, civil servants and business leaders who have just read an official press statement from Stephen Timms, Financial Secretary to the UK Treasury, seen here behind his political master Gordon Brown. After months, indeed years of undisguised hostility, most blatantly with Chancellor Alistair Darling’s [...]
Official figures release today show that there have been massive increases in both personal and business bankruptcies as the credit crunch continues to bite. The lack of working capital, usually provided by bank overdrafts or secured lending together with the problems of obtaining credit insurance have been blamed for a 98% increase in companies going [...]
The Taxpayers Association of Europe (TAE) has hit out at the recently announced new rules for MEPs air travel, which are to be introduced after the June 2009 election is out of the way. TAE president Rolf von Hohenhau, declared that MEPs should only be able to claim reimbursement for the actual price paid for [...]
Her Majesty’s Revenue & Customs (HMRC) recently published details of a new one penalty system for inaccurate tax documents and returns. This new system replaces the previous wide variety of penalties. The new system relates to returns and documents for the period starting on or after 1st April 20098 which are due to be filed [...]
A shock announcement in the small print of this year’s budget has left thousands of UK farmers and second home owners reeling at the loss of tax breaks without which they may have to sell up. Not a good thing in a falling market. But it could benefit owners of foreign holiday property. Buried deep [...]
During World War Two the Czechs and the Poles came to the rescue of Britain and ultimately of Europe, making a great contribution to the war effort. It looks like they may save us all again! There is no doubt that without Polish and Czech pilots fighting with the RAF during the Battle of Britain, [...]
The UK Labour government has a well earned reputation for timing announcements it knows will be unpopular to coincide with major new stories so that the bad news gets buried. Remember the infamous memo on 9/11 “[today] is a very good day to get out anything we want to bury” sent by Jo Moore, advisor [...]
There has been a sudden upsurge in scam emails purporting to come from PayPal. These look like a receipt for a bogus payment to various named people. If you get one of these then DON’T CLICK ON THE CANCEL LINK – that’s where the phishing bit is!!! The emails have the giveaway salutation “dear Paypal member” rather than your real name, [...]
So, according to Prime Minister Gordon Brown, “I take full responsibility for what happened – that is why the person that was responsible went immediately.” Leaving aside the fractured English doesn’t that mean he, Gordon Brown, has resigned? Clearly not. Brown used the “S” word on TV from Glasgow, where the Cabinet was meeting. As [...]
The Bank of England today announced that it was commencing a programme of “Quantitative Easing” designed to stimulate the economy. For a few weeks now the term quantitative easing has been bandied about. Sometimes this is also referred to as “printing money”. Now I don’t know about you but I can’t see why just printing [...]
Despite the Prime Minister hailing it as a success, it emerged over the weekend that only about £12 Million of the £1 Billion government loan guarantee scheme has actually been lent to companies. Last week Gordon Brown sought to defend the government’s record on helping business by repeatedly citing the £1bn loan guarantee scheme as [...]
One of the world’s longest running cases was settle out of court 67 years after it started in 1941. The case, known as Re Jahre, concerned a dispute over the recovery of assets alleged to belong to the shipping magnate Anders Jahre. Jahre died aged 90 before the main trial started in 1983. Although the [...]
Well there are a few people like me who think he never had the plot to start with. In all honesty since the moment he got into 11 Downing Street as Chancellor the man has been nothing but a total disaster zone. I really found it hard to credit how the media could promote him [...]
The British Treasury has set up an independent review to examine the operations of offshore financial centres and their effect on the UK economy. The review will look at the current and future risks posed by the current economic crisis to the financial business of British Crown Dependencies and Overseas Territories including Jersey, Guernsey, the [...]
On Wednesday of this week European politicians voted to scrap the UK’s long running opt-out from the Working Time Directive which limits the working week to an average of 48 hours. Despite the wishes of British Prime Minister Gordon Brown and Business Secretary (and former EU Commissioner (Lord) Peter Mandelson) several Labour MEPs voted to [...]
HMRC (Her Majesty’s Revenue & Customs) have announced that they are gearing up to mount an attack on Managed Service Companies (MSCs) based in the UK and offshore. Background For many years now HMRC has battled to try and stop what it perceives to be the unacceptable use of limited companies as a way for [...]
As Chancellor Mr Brown kept telling everyone how successful Britain’s economy was under his stewardship and as Prime Minister he tells us that because of him Britain is in a better position than other countries to weather the credit crunch. Not only have I never believed him but now it seems that his successor as [...]
