In one example, KPMG advised on the development of "patent box" rules, and then issued marketing brochures titled "Patent box: what's in it for you." Deloitte, Ernst & Young, KPMG and PricewaterhouseCoopers have provided the government with expert accountants – free of charge - to help draw up tax laws. But the firms went on to advise multinationals and individuals on how to exploit loopholes in legislation they helped to write. GUARDIAN
("Yes, free of charge... Well, there is a small charge... Between £35bn and £70bn+ of taxes dodged by our clients!" said our Big 4 insider.)
Warning from headteachers as parents dig deep to fund boom in private tutors
Parents on modest incomes and families from ethnic minorities are behind a massive boom in Britain's multimillion-pound tutoring market. Hundreds of thousands of children – some as young as two – now receive private tuition at a cost of between £7 and £60 an hour. Parents say the extra study gives their children confidence and helps them secure top grades. But headteachers are warning that the tutoring market is beginning to spiral out of control and is "trading on insecurity". GUARDIAN
(…So… degrade a public service - education - and a whole new private sector is born! The system works!!)
More women turn to credit cards and loans to make up for their lack of income
A survey by credit report company Callcredit found that 72% of women have applied for some form of credit in the last 18 months, compared to just 28%. Worryingly, the main reason women did so was to make up for shortfalls in their income. The research also found that women are now far more likely to apply for credit to cover household goods than men, as well as being more likely to resort to the desperate measure of taking out an exorbitant payday loan. European Commission studies found that across the continent women earn on average 16.2% less than men. DAILY MAIL
Iain Duncan Smith urges wealthy elderly to 'hand back' benefits
Wealthy elderly people who do not need benefits to help with fuel bills, TV licences or free travel should give the money to his department, said the work and pensions secretary Iain Duncan Smith. He said he would "encourage" people who do not need such financial support "to hand it back". BBC NEWS
(Meanwhile, extremely wealthy people who do not need 'loopholes' to help with their 'tax', 'moral compass' and 'vast wealth' should give the money to the Conservative Party, if they haven’t done so already...)
Google and its auditor Ernst & Young ordered back to parliament to answer tax questions
Google's European boss told parliament's public accounts committee last November that his sales team was based in tax-sheltered Dublin and that the job of UK staff was simply to market Google. But evidence from Google's own website, interviews with clients and former staff, and staff profiles on the internet, shows that some sales staff are based in London. If so, Google's UK tax bill could increase significantly. Google's own corporate website advertises London-based jobs whose duties include "negotiating deals", closing "strategic and revenue deals" and achieving "quarterly sales quotas". Google responded: "As we have said many times, we comply with all the tax rules in the UK and in every other country in which we operate." Google’s motto is “Don’t do evil”. GUARDIAN
(Google added: "And as we have said many times, we comply with all the rules of evil as found in the Kingdom of Hell, and in every other moral vacuum in which we operate.")
Moody’s S&P settle lawsuits accusing them of hiding risky subprime investments
The lawsuits from King County in Washington state and Abu Dhabi Commercial Bank claimed that the ratings agencies and Morgan Stanley hid the risk of investing in a fund that purchased bonds backed by subprime mortgages. The collapse of such "subprime" funds triggered the global financial crisis. The cases were settled without any admission of liability or wrongdoing, which means that no one will be prosecuted. WASHINGTON POST
(…which is handy, as US jails are already rammed full of low income people who defaulted on their subprime mortgages…)
Estate agents obliged to reveal property problems, rather than keep quiet
The days of estate agents singing a property’s praises without mentioning its drawbacks are over. At least, that’s what the Office of Fair Trading has ruled. In the past, it was up to the buyer to ask the questions. The seller or agent did not have to volunteer every detail about a property — their only obligation was to give truthful answers. Now the onus is on the agent to be frank and disclose any information that could affect a decision — not only to purchase but even view in the first place. Matters that must be disclosed include: nearby motorways, flightpaths, night clubs and schools; crime; failed sales and the causes thereof. Also, photos must accurately reflect the state of the property. DAILY MAIL
(…which is handy, as US jails are already rammed full of low income people who defaulted on their subprime mortgages…)
Estate agents obliged to reveal property problems, rather than keep quiet
The days of estate agents singing a property’s praises without mentioning its drawbacks are over. At least, that’s what the Office of Fair Trading has ruled. In the past, it was up to the buyer to ask the questions. The seller or agent did not have to volunteer every detail about a property — their only obligation was to give truthful answers. Now the onus is on the agent to be frank and disclose any information that could affect a decision — not only to purchase but even view in the first place. Matters that must be disclosed include: nearby motorways, flightpaths, night clubs and schools; crime; failed sales and the causes thereof. Also, photos must accurately reflect the state of the property. DAILY MAIL
Austerity kills, economists warn
Austerity is causing soaring suicide rates, rising HIV infections and even a malaria outbreak. In a new book, The Body Economic: Why Austerity Kills, the authors show how different strategies to deal with economic shocks affect health. Examples include Sweden, which used public spending to cope with its recession in the 1990s: the number of suicides fell despite a large rise in unemployment. In Greece, however, HIV infection has risen by over 200% since 2011 as prevention budgets have been cut, and intravenous drug use has grown amid 50% youth unemployment. Greece also experienced its first malaria outbreak in decades after budget cuts to mosquito-spraying, the authors say. GUARDIAN
Austerity is causing soaring suicide rates, rising HIV infections and even a malaria outbreak. In a new book, The Body Economic: Why Austerity Kills, the authors show how different strategies to deal with economic shocks affect health. Examples include Sweden, which used public spending to cope with its recession in the 1990s: the number of suicides fell despite a large rise in unemployment. In Greece, however, HIV infection has risen by over 200% since 2011 as prevention budgets have been cut, and intravenous drug use has grown amid 50% youth unemployment. Greece also experienced its first malaria outbreak in decades after budget cuts to mosquito-spraying, the authors say. GUARDIAN
The new policy will apply to the sale of investments such as pensions, annuities and unit trusts, but not to some mortgages and insurance policies. Commission-driven sales were at the heart of the huge mis-selling scandals of the past few decades, affecting the sale of endowment policies, personal pensions and most recently payment protection insurance (PPI). Even apart from those scandals, the FSA estimated in 2010 that mis-selling in general was costing consumers about half a billion pounds a year. A recent survey for the FSA found that 17% of adults currently take advice from a professional financial adviser and another 32% would consider doing so. But a third of the respondents thought, wrongly, that the advice was free. BBC NEWS
(…Errr... because a hundred per cent of salespeople told them it was?...)
