There has been much comment on the size of the fines given by the Financial Services Authority to Warren Buffet’s company General Reinsurance. Most only went as far as to note that the penalty was for two transactions that, to quote the SA were:
designed without legitimate purpose and effect
Hang on, I thought, what can their [...]
The cash accounting debate appears to have developed a life of its own.
I admit I was surprised when Mike Truman of Taxation magazine joined in on the side of cash accounting, and opened a poll on his site on the issue. However, he’s now written a substantial piece which is well worth reading.
What I would [...]
Friday’s news that the European Court of Justice has ruled that alcohol and cigarettes bought from other EU countries can only be exempt from domestic excise duties if they are intended for “the personal use of the private individual” who transports them is very welcome. The ruling means that any such gods shipped across borders [...]
No, we’re not talking New Jersey here. We’re talking Jersey, Channel Islands. That place of which its First Minister, Frank Walker is prone to say I’m no friend. About which he’s wrong (as ever). I’m a true friend of Jersey, just not of Frank.
But I do have friends in the place. Lots of them. And [...]
PWC were kind enough to send me (and no doubt thousands of others) a mail yesterday on tax strategy. Since it was clearly marketing blurb I’ve no concern about quoting it, partly in the interest of fair play. They say:
Public perception about the amount of tax paid by business has made tax a global reputational [...]
Nichola Ross-Martin, editor of AccountingWEB has written a tetchy response to an observation I made on that web site in which I criticised her call for cash accounting for micro-enterprises in the UK. She had in turn criticised Professor Judith Freedman of Oxford University for being on my side in this debate and had been [...]
In my last blog on this issue I asked for readily available and therefore non-burdensome data on ownership and management to be included in small company accounts. There was an implicit assumption in that suggestion, which is that the accounts of all small entities that enjoy limited liability should be made available, on line, free [...]
Rumour reached me that Ernst & Young are making 15 VAT staff, including two partners, redundant. Word on the street is that clients do not want VAT avoidance schemes, hence a lack of work for these unfortunate people.
A call to EY didn’t result in positive confirmation of all aspects of the rumour. They said:
Ernst & [...]
My Dutch colleagues have given me feedback on the reception of the report we co-authored for SOMO to which I referred yesterday.
The report, entitled ‘The Netherlands: A tax haven?‘ has been discussed in the Dutch parliament. As Francis Weyzig noted:
The finance minister questioned our report, which was to be expected, but he also stated that [...]
As readers of this blog will be aware, PricewaterhouseCoopers have recently produced what is claimed to be a report for the World Bank. It is, of course, nothing of the sort. It’s actually PWC promoting their political agenda on behalf of themselves and their clients.
But this is not the first time less than honourable dealings [...]
