Gordon Brown’s move to abolish the 10p rate of income tax, which, it became quickly clear, was the great con of his last budget, is coming back ...
View articleSomething more serious in the world of tax: the finance bill has appeared. And here are the relevant details for you: It has 158 clauses, 46 schedules...
View articleThe Taxation lot have done a good job on the Fifth Beatle, here. I have to confess I didn’t know much about 1960s tax rules. I’m more fami...
View articleAnother flippant thought for you, this time about the credit crunch. We’ve all heard how all the city bankers made their dosh on sub-prime mortg...
View articleFor those interested in the issue of the media’s coverage of the non-dom issue, Lionel Barber’s letter to the Guardian defending the FT...
View articleIt’s getting to the stage where I’m so fed up of non-dom whinging, I might leave the country myself. Mike Truman has, as ever, an excellen...
View articleIn the ongoing row about the non-doms, and all of them threatening to leave, one small consolatory thought. Is there any chance that Chelsea Football ...
View articleThe tax adviser to Philippa D’Arcy has spoken! Philip Shirley, who advised the City headhunter on a plan that entitled her to claim a £1.5m tax ...
View articleI think I’m a bit late to this, but if you didn’t know, specialist tax magazine Taxation has launched a tax blog. They blog slightly more ...
View articleWhere does Alistair Darling stand on the Northern Rock securitisation plan? The only reason I ask is because I thought he wanted everyone to stop putt...
View articleI mentioned yesterday I’d been showing an unhealthy interest in the Treasury’s FOI request page. Here’s why. For those who are inter...
View articleHas Gordon Brown cut CGT in his time in power? He implied yesterday that he had. On one level, of course he’s right. The rate used to be 40%, an...
View articleI’ve been looking at the Treasury’s Freedom of Information Act release page in the last day or so (all will become clear as to why tomorro...
View articleIt’s musical chairs time at HM Revenue & Customs. The board has been revamped and everyone has a new role. The moves follow Gus O’Donn...
View articleSue Cameron’s column in the FT on a Wednesday has caused a few flutters in Whitehall and Westminster ever since this piece revealing disaffectio...
View articleThere’ll be much more to say about Kieran Poynter’s report into the data failures at HM Revenue & Customs, but my initial thoughts wer...
View articleWhile Dave Hartnett steps up to the top job in the UK, his former counterpart in the US, Mark Everson, is down in the dumps. Everson, who was previous...
View articleI think the phrase ‘disgruntled lemmings’ could become a convenient shorthand for HMRC staff from now on. I particularly like the idea of ...
View articleIs there anyone else hoping that the discs crisis at HM Revenue & Customs might yield one positive result? By that I mean the confusion over what ...
View articleThe CBI has some research figures out today that suggest entrepreneurs are considering selling up before April, a phenomenon that we are expecting but...
View articleThe Mercury story has thrust ‘gilt strips’ back into the headlines. This was a scheme from a few years back and caused the government some...
View articleIs anyone else quite intrigued by the story about peers’ expenses? The story, in brief, is that our friends in the Upper House have been claimin...
View articleHere’s a story that passed under the radar and for various reasons, we never got around to doing. Dave Hartnett gave an interview in October to ...
View articleThere’s a good piece in last week’s Taxation on the non-dom policies of both major political parties. The proposed charge on non-doms is a...
View articleOne of the great issues in tax policy over the last few years was: how on earth did Dawn Primarolo keep her job as the minister responsible for HM Rev...
View articleThere is an excellent article on Alistair Darling’s CGT changes in the FT today by Martin Wolf. Wolf defends the changes and makes many good and...
View articleTo move on to a completely different subject, the goings-on at the National Audit Office really are too funny not to mention. Well, funny might be one...
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