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Monthly Archives: July 2007

Why the Bulgarian flat tax won’t work

31-Jul-07

There’s an interesting comment on the new Bulgarian flat tax at Novinite, which is a Sofia based news agency. It says:

Certainly, [flt tax] has a fair number of supporters and detractors, but even the staunchest advocate of flat tax will agree that it is not a magic wand that will solve all the problems in […]

Bulgaria to have a flat tax

31-Jul-07

Bulgaria has announced it is to have a flat tax in 2008.
Alvin Rabushka will be cock-a-hoop.
But he shouldn’t be. As I’ve shown for the ACCA, these places have not got flat taxes, and flat taxes don’t work.

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The National Audit Office uses TJN language

31-Jul-07

The National Audit Office released a report on HMRC and the management of large business corporation tax. I was asked to contribute to this process. I am delighted to see one practical result of that. The report notes that:

The Department aims to collect the right tax at the right time.

This is, of course, the definition […]

Patented tax avoidance

31-Jul-07

The NJ Biz reported yesterday that:

Growing concern over a federal agency’s four-year-old decision to grant patents on tax strategies has some CPAs in New Jersey and elsewhere worried about counseling clients on tax planning.
But “if drugs can be patented, why not tax strategies?” asks E. Martin Davidoff, a Dayton CPA and tax attorney, referring to […]

Ten years on - and domicile is still on the agenda

31-Jul-07

It was interesting find an article on on our domicile rule in the International Herald & Tribune of 5 July 1997. It said:

A standard test for trainee British tax accountants is to decide whether Britain is a tax haven. According to Richard McIlwee, a tax partner with Clifford Chance in London, most are surprised to […]

The IMF says aid needs rethinking

31-Jul-07

Nick Shaxson has written a first rate price on the TJN blog. He refers to IMF thinking on aid, just published, that says:

We find little robust evidence of a positive (or negative) relationship between aid inflows into a country and its economic growth. We also find no evidence that aid works better in better policy […]

Falling out in Jersey

30-Jul-07

The Chief Minister of Jersey has asked health minister Senator Stuart Syvret to resign. It has been reported that:

Six ministers are saying they’ve lost confidence in Senator Stuart Syvret to remain a member of the Council of Ministers. And Senator Walker agrees with them.
They want him to go because of comments he made in an […]

Is it true that the Big 4 aren’t promoting women?

30-Jul-07

The FT has reported a survey by Accountancy magazine that shows the proportion of women at the “Big Four” accountancy firms who were made partners this year dropped by a third from 2006 in spite of efforts to attract and retain women in senior roles.
Analysis by Accountancy magazine to be published this week shows that […]

Just don’t do it

30-Jul-07

Those were the favourite words of my old deputy head-master. They came to mind when I read that James Owens, chairman and CEO of Caterpillar, said his company spends some $40 million a year on tax planning. He added:

It’s a big waste.

As my deputy head would have said:

Just don’t do it

To which he would have […]

The City’s under threat - again

30-Jul-07

The FT has reported this morning that:

London’s status as one of the world’s leading financial centres risks being undermined

I thought “more on domicile”. But no, it turns out that the cause is:

excessive delays at Heathrow and the airport’s sprawling layout

The comments come from the government’s new City minister, Kitty Ussher. She calls herself
an “advocate” for […]

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