Category Archives: Tax and spending

‘Raise my taxes – now!’: the millionaires who want to give it all away

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Abigail Disney has parted with $72m – and thinks the rich need to pay far more tax. As Covid widens the inequality gap, she and an international league of the super-rich are urging governments to take their money

Abigail Disney has always been very, very rich, or, as she describes it, “too rich”. The money came with her name: she is the granddaughter of Roy Disney who, with his brother Walt, founded the Walt Disney Company in 1923. Disney, 61, refuses to say how much she has, but acknowledges she would have been a billionaire in her own right had she not realised in her 20s that it was her fortune that was making her miserable, and decided to start giving it away.

She has been donating to good causes ever since – $72m (£52m) and counting, mostly to groups helping women in prison, women living with HIV, and victims of domestic violence. But giving it away is no longer enough. She wants the tax collector to take more money, not only from her, but from “all of the absurdly rich people across the world”.

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The foreign royals and billionaire tax exiles collecting UK’s furlough millions

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Read the list of super-rich claimants, from Saudi princes to Dubai monarchs, tax exiles to the UK’s richest

Glympton Park is a sprawling, 2,000-acre estate featuring an 18th-century stately home, nestled in the verdant Oxfordshire countryside near Woodstock.

It was bought for £8m in 1992, by Prince Bandar bin Sultan bin Abdul Aziz al-Saud, the senior Saudi royal whose past roles include ambassador to the US. He is said to have spent £42m on renovations, including a pheasant shoot and bullet-proof glass on the driveway to thwart would-be assassins.

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Budget 2021 live: Sunak to freeze income tax thresholds and raise corporation tax to pay for Covid recovery

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Latest updates: chancellor extends furlough, universal credit uplift and stamp duty holiday

Sunak turns to corporation tax.

Sunak says he will announce two measures now to address the borrowing.

The government’s response has been fair, he says.

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Keir Starmer under pressure to back plans for corporation tax rise

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Labour leader has faced backlash after saying he would oppose any new tax on business in budget

Keir Starmer is under pressure to back future rises in corporation tax after a backlash when the Labour leader said he would oppose any new tax on business in next week’s budget.

Treasury officials are believed to be looking at increasing the tax on company profits from the current rate of 19% to up to 25% as the government tries to recoup some of the massive debts incurred during the pandemic, though the rise may be delayed until later in the parliament.

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Economic cost of Covid crisis prompts call for one-off UK wealth tax

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Tax experts and economists outline ‘fairest, most efficient’ way to repair public finances and quickly raise £260bn

The government has been urged to launch a one-off wealth tax on millionaire households to raise up to £260bn in response to the coronavirus pandemic, as the crisis damages Britain’s public finances and exacerbates inequality.

The Wealth Tax Commission – a group of leading tax experts and economists brought together by the London School of Economics and Warwick University to examine the case for a levy on assets – said targeting the richest in society would be the fairest and most efficient way to raise taxes in response to the pandemic.

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British Virgin Islands commits to public register of beneficial owners

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Announcement follows years of tax evasion scandals involving BVI shell companies

The government of the British Virgin Islands has finally committed to introducing public registers of beneficial ownership for companies incorporated in the tax haven.

The announcement, made in the islands parliament, comes in the wake of years of tax evasion and money laundering scandals, in which shell companies incorporated in the territory regularly played a central role.

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Biden tells Trump ‘you are the worst president America has ever had’ in battle over taxes – video

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During the first presidential debate, Donald Trump was pressed on the New York Times story over his tax returns, which showed he paid only $750 in federal income taxes in 2016 and 2017. The president claimed he had paid “millions” in income taxes and said he would release his tax returns soon, which he has been saying since 2015. 

Joe Biden said Trump 'does take advantage of the tax code' and 'pays less tax than a schoolteacher'. Trump shrugged off the criticism, saying all business leaders do the same 'unless they are stupid'. The exchange escalated with Biden telling his rival: 'You are the worst president America has ever had'

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Up to £3.5bn furlough scheme cash may have been wrongly paid out

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Error and fraud rate for scheme estimated at between 5% and 10%, says HMRC chief

The government believes it may have paid out up to £3.5bn in wrong or fraudulent claims for the furlough scheme.

Jim Harra, the top civil servant at HM Revenue & Customs, said that his staff had calculated for the possibility that as much as 10% of the money might have gone to the wrong places.

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Tories warn Rishi Sunak amid Covid tax hike rumours

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Several Conservative backbenchers argue that focus must be on supporting a continued economic recovery

The chancellor, Rishi Sunak, has been urged not to introduce tax hikes in his November budget by Conservative backbenchers who argue they would damage economic recovery.

The intervention followed speculation the Treasury could raise £20bn through extra levies to deal with the fallout from Covid-19.

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UK to drop ‘Facebook tax’ in favour of post-Brexit trade deal

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Recently introduced tax would have raised £500m, helping to reduce Britain’s huge Covid bill

The UK government is preparing to drop a recently introduced tax on global technology companies such as Facebook, Google and Amazon, due to fears that the so-called “Facebook tax” could jeopardise a post-Brexit trade deal.

Rishi Sunak is reportedly planning to ditch the digital services tax which was expected to generate about £500m to help pay towards the huge cost of the government’s response to the coronavirus pandemic.

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Over-40s in UK to pay more tax under plans to fix social care crisis

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Exclusive: Matt Hancock is advocate of plan to raise tax to cover cost of care in later life

Everyone over 40 would start contributing towards the cost of care in later life under radical plans being studied by ministers to finally end the crisis in social care, the Guardian can reveal.

Under the plan over-40s would have to pay more in tax or national insurance, or be compelled to insure themselves against hefty bills for care when they are older. The money raised would then be used to pay for the help that frail elderly people need with washing, dressing and other activities if still at home, or to cover their stay in a care home.

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Super-rich call for higher taxes on wealthy to pay for Covid-19 recovery

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Exclusive: Group of 83 wealthy individuals demands ‘immediate, substantial and permanent’ higher taxes ‘on people like us’

A group of 83 of the world’s richest people have called on governments to permanently increase taxes on them and other members of the wealthy elite to help pay for the economic recovery from the Covid-19 crisis.

The super-rich members, including Ben and Jerry’s ice cream co-founder Jerry Greenfield and Disney heir Abigail Disney, called on “our governments to raise taxes on people like us. Immediately. Substantially. Permanently”.

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What will coronavirus mean for the British economy?

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As the UK faces what may be its worst ever recession, we begin a monthly series exploring the financial shock to business and living standards

One month after a national lockdown was declared in an attempt to limit the spread of Covid-19, it is clear that Britain is heading for the deepest recession in living memory.

Boris Johnson’s government launched unprecedented restrictions on 23 March, telling the British public that they must stay at home and bringing life as the nation knew it to an abrupt halt.

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Budget 2020: read the small print on spending pledge, urges IFS

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Thinktank praises Covid-19 response but says ‘splurge’ relies on already announced plans

Rishi Sunak’s first budget is not as generous as it seems and will leave many Whitehall departments worse off than they were before the spending squeeze began in 2010, according to Britain’s foremost economics thinktank.

The Institute for Fiscal Studies said the chancellor made the budget sound more substantial than it was, while relying on previously announced spending plans.

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Budget 2020: chancellor plans to finally end tampon tax

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The 5% rate on sanitary products will end. Rishi Sunak also plans to ensure banks keep circulating cash

The chancellor will announce the abolition of the “tampon tax” in next week’s budget, marking the successful conclusion to a 20-year campaign by women’s rights activists.

Tampons and other women’s sanitary products currently have 5% VAT added to their price, but this will be scrapped, saving the average woman £40 over her lifetime. The tax will end when Britain leaves the EU at the end of December.

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Boris Johnson faces Jeremy Corbyn at PMQs – live news

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Rolling coverage of the day’s political developments as they happen, including Boris Johnson and Jeremy Corbyn at PMQs and Michel Barnier’s Brexit speech

Ian Blackford, the SNP leader at Westminster, says immigration is crucial for the Scottish economy. The Scottish government’s plans for a Scottish visa system have been welcomed by business and even Scottish Tories. Does the PM accept it was a mistake to reject the plan?

Johnson says this idea was rejected by the migration advisory committee. He says under the government’s plan firms will be able to get the workers they need.

Corbyn says he has learnt a lot from visiting victims of flooding. The PM should try it. He says people cannot get insurance. Isn’t it time the PM found an urgent solution to this problem? Just imagine what it must be like. People are looking to the government for help.

Johnson says there are problems with insurance. But the government scheme has helped many households. He says he is looking at what can be done to protect homes that cannot get insurance. He says any government led by Corbyn would not be able to help.

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12 EU states reject move to expose companies’ tax avoidance

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Proposal would have forced firms to reveal profits made and taxes paid in each EU country

Twelve EU countries, including Ireland, have blocked a proposed new rule that would have forced multinational companies to reveal how much profit they make and how little tax they pay in each of the 28 member states.

The proposed directive was designed to shine a light on how some of the world’s biggest companies – such as Apple, Facebook and Google – avoid paying an estimated $500bn a year in taxes by shifting their profits from higher-tax countries such as the UK, France and Germany to zero-tax or low-tax jurisdictions including Ireland, Luxembourg and Malta.

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Johnson tax pledge to ‘put money back in pockets’

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At launch of manifesto, PM says he will not raise income tax, VAT or national insurance for five years

Boris Johnson will commit a Tory government to not raise income tax, VAT or national insurance for five years as he promises to “put more money back in people’s pockets” after Brexit.

Launching the Conservatives’ general election manifesto on Sunday, the prime minister will also pledge to protect the value of state pensions, boost spending by £1bn on childcare during school terms and holidays, and cut energy bills by up to £750 a year for those in social housing.

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Jeremy Corbyn urges public to vote for ‘manifesto of hope’

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‘Investment blitz’ promised as experts taken aback by scale of Labour’s tax and spend plans

Jeremy Corbyn has urged the public to vote for his “manifesto of hope” as he unveiled plans for the most dramatic increase in tax and spending in more than half a century if Labour wins power next month’s general election.

In an upbeat launch event at Birmingham City University, the Labour leader said he welcomed the hostility of the billionaires, bad bosses and dodgy landlords who would lose out from his policies.

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Boris Johnson lets slip manifesto pledge to cut national insurance

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PM’s apparent blunder over £12,500 threshold could benefit him amid ‘factchecking’ row

Boris Johnson has said he wants to raise the national insurance threshold to £12,500, letting slip a major Tory tax cut from the manifesto as he was speaking to workers in Teesside.

The prime minister blurted out the key announcement as he was pressed by an employee at a fabrication yard about whether he would help “people like us”, not just the rich.

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