Fee and KJ discuss the 'pasty tax' levied on hot takeaway fo...
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LATEST: Think you’re paying less tax now? The withdrawal of Working and Child Tax Credits leaves low earners paying a 73% marginal tax rate, and medium earners paying even more
...And this government says it cuts taxes for poor working households!
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RIP-OFF NEWS ROUND-UP, OUR PICK OF THE LAST WEEK'S MEDIA
Drug firm Novartis tried to 'scupper' trials of a cheaper version of eye medicine
Has Austerity caused the UK’s first decline in life expectancy in 20 years?
Kellogg's effectively paid no corporation tax in the UK in 2013, +more stories...
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YOU'RE FIRED?! We are already nearly the most easily fired people in the developed world
Only the US and Canada make it easier, says the OECD’s Worker Protection Index
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EYE OPENER: Housing Equity Withdrawal took off in 1979. Since then almost all UK growth has suspiciously equalled the amount we took out. Looks like it’s pensions next
Osborne’s new rules allow you to spend your entire pension pot now. Same mistake, different pot
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DID YOU KNOW? MPs are getting a 10% pay hike in May, to £74k
...and in 2010, 137 MPs put family members on parliament's payroll. Now it's soared to 167
GOOD DEBT
PENSION CRAZY
BANKSTER PAY
MPs' 2nd JOBS
TAX IS THEFT?!
FAILING SCHOOLS
AFFORDABLE NHS
1m WORK IN POVERTY
JAIL THE ACCOUNTANTS
RICKETS IS BACK
UN-NATIONALISED RAIL
LOW WAGE BRITAIN
BANK OF MUM & DAD
UK: A PRISONER OF CUTS
TAXING LIES
WATER CANNON BORIS
UNIVERSAL C.. OCKUP
FULL TIME JOBS? WHERE!
Monday, 26 March 2012
Chris seeks access to a David Cameron TV appearanceSOURCE TELEGRAPH: Cash for access: David Cameron's private dinners for donors revealedDavid Cameron has been forced to admit that 15 donors who between them gave the Conservative Party £25million enjoyed secret dinners and lunches with him at Chequers and in Downing Stre...
Saturday, 24 March 2012
By Dr.Ros Altmann, Director General of SAGA This Budget contains an enormous stealth tax for older people. Over the next five years, pensioners with an income of between £10,500 and £24,000 will be paying an extra £3 billion in tax while richer pensioners are left unaffected.There was plenty of bad news for older people in this Budget:Shock rise in age allowance hits middle-income pensioners - poorest and richest are unaffected: The big shock in this Budget was the astonishing stealth tax announced for 5 million of Britain's middle...
"Stopping the lies is an impossible task. But spreading the truth just takes a re-tweet."With the Chancellor's Budget announcing a drop in Corporation Tax down to 22% in 2014, her Majesty's Treasurers got their crayons out and came up with this super poster.It Demonstrates very effectively how low Britain has dropped its Corporation Tax. With only Turkey, Saudi Arabia and the Russian Federation offering lower corporate tax rates, how much lower can the Chancellor get?As an added temptation, the Chancellor has offered the 'patentbox'...
So who was the "irrational" borrower that brought down the economy? And was the culprit actually "irrational"?If you weren't sure why the banks got themselves, and everyone else, into such a pickle with the Credit Crisis, the 2012 Budget Document is the source of some nice nuggets of information. Civil servants, competent and on the whole moderately paid, have little incentive to avoid the truth and will often slip it in if they can.The financial sector, having burned down the economy, tried to plant the box of used matches in the hands of...
At last, we know why governments in recent decades, both “left” and right and right-ish, have thrust more money at the wealthy and snatched more from the less well provided for. It is because it is all too complicated for us, having all that money. Which is why the recent Budget included a 'major simplification' for pensioners.We have to thank the Chancellor, George Osborne who made this clear in his 2012 Budget speech:“We should also simplify the age related allowances - which the Office of Tax Simplification have recently highlighted as a particularly complicated feature of the tax system.The National Audit Office points out that many...
Sunday, 18 March 2012
As the 2012 Budget approaches, Tory ministers and their cohorts argue for the abolition of the 50% income tax rate. They claim it fails to achieve the objective of raising more tax, and acts as a disincentive to wealth creating businessmen. The falsity of these claims is easily demonstrated:a) Should the 50% rate of tax result in significant extra tax collection?Yes it should. According to HMRC figures for 2010-11 £23.3 billion was expected to be collected at the 50% rate. This means £46.6 billion of taxable income at this top rate. Reducing the...
By Richard Lloyd, Executive Director at Which?Until now, hard-pressed consumers have had to go it alone when they want to negotiate a better tariff with the energy giants. That is why Which? and online campaigners 38 Degrees launched The Big Switch, a completely new way to buy energy using the power of thousands of consumers to negotiate a market leading deal with suppliers. There has been an incredible response with more than 200,000 people joining together to get a better deal in less than a month. This unstoppable tide of...
Friday, 16 March 2012
Sunday, 11 March 2012
There is a predictable perversity in government policy claiming to encourage Britons to work harder. Like so much past policy the government claims that for the good of the nation it must give the rich more and give everyone else less. A carrot and stick policy that hands all the carrots to the wealthy and only swings sticks at the rest. Two current ideas being pursued by the current government's Tory dog, with its Liberal tail noticeably not wagging, are characteristic of this philosophy:Give the rich more money, by cutting the 50% tax rate,...
Thursday, 8 March 2012
Sophie Allain, Campaign for Better Transport's public transport campaignerThe Government launched its rail fares review today with the potential to be the biggest shake-up of our fares system for decades. With rail fares a hot topic across the country affecting the pockets of hundreds of thousands of people, the chance to have a say on fares will be irresistible for many. The Government has said it wants to hear from passengers and has allowed an extended period of time for the consultation. To help people respond easily we’ve produced...
Sunday, 4 March 2012
The “Fraud Triangle” is an established method for sniffing out fraudulent activity, particularly in companies. The three sides of the triangle are:OpportunityIncentive/MotiveRationalisation. According to the KPMG report “Profile of a fraudster 2007” "Opportunity generally occurs through weaknesses in the internal controls and creates an atmosphere where fraudsters believe they are likely to be successful and undetected.. .. Trust, however, though important in business often becomes the door opener for fraudsters.Motive often develops from...
