Tax officials are attempting to recoup millions of pounds in tax relief granted to celebrities, according to the BBC.
The monies relate to a scheme designed to kick start economic growth in deprived areas including the building of two data centres on Tyneside that remain unused some years on.
The BBC says that ‘Wayne Rooney, Arsene Wenger, Jimmy Carr and Rick Parfitt were among 675 people who invested £79 million in 2011 but got back £131 million in relief – or £50 million “tax profit”‘ but ‘there is no suggestion of wrongdoing by anyone who put money into Cobalt Data Centres 2 and 3, nor that they were aware they would not be tenanted and functioning within a reasonable time’.
Exchange rates Despite exchange rates sliding to below one euro to the pound, airport profits from bureaux de change have soared to more than £100 million, an investigation by The Times has found. The paper states: ‘Passengers at British airports get worse rates than those at European hubs as Heathrow and Gatwick drive up rents and strike exclusivity deals with foreign-exchange operators. More than five million people are expected to fly from British airports this Christmas, with almost 250,000 travelling through Heathrow on its busiest day. One in ten travellers buys currency from their departure airport.’ Financial compensation The Telegraph reports that riskier firms will have to make larger contributions into Britain’s £3.5 billion financial compensation fund. The City regulator has proposed proposed lifting the cap on some claims to £1 million. Under a series of measures laid out by the the Financial Conduct Authority, the remit of the Financial Services Compensation Scheme will be revamped and broadened. The scheme pays compensation to consumers when financial services firms fail. It paid out £271 million in the year to the end of March. In other compensation news, Thisismoney reports that complaints over mis-sold payment protection insurance schemes will reach record highs in 2017. The Financial Ombudsman expects to resolve 360,000 cases over ‘worthless’ PPI plans in 2017-18 thanks to a proposed deadline for PPI complaints.Mortgages
Mortgage lending fell in October for home-movers, first-time buyers and buy-to-let landlords, The Times reports. The Council for Mortgage Lenders said a total of £10.5 billion had been lent in October. This was 11 per cent lower than October last year and down 8 per cent from September. In addition, the Council for Mortgage Lenders has this morning published new housing market forecasts, and reports gross lending of £21 billion in November – up by an estimated 3 per cent on October, and also 3 per cent up on a year ago.The ability to funnel money into a pension for retirement is being hampered by the increasing cost of living in some of the UK’s biggest cities, according to Thisismoney.
The website stated: ‘Nearly half of people living in major cities say living costs pose the biggest threat to their retirement funds, a report by insurer Prudential said. Just over 30 per cent of people living in cities said they aren’t paid enough to be able to contribute more to a pension.’
Retail
UK retail sales volumes in November were up 5.9 per cent from a year earlier, the Office for National Statistics said this morning. Sales in household goods stores were boosted by Black Friday events but the overall rate of growth slowed from October’s 14-year high. Finally… Lego is the latest manufacturer to respond to the plummeting pound, The Guardian reports. The paper says that Lego is to raise its prices in Britain by 5 per cent next year, adding that ‘the Danish firm confirmed it had decided to hike the prices of its playsets, bricks and mini-figures in the UK owing to “currency fluctuations”, while not ruling out further increases if sterling does not recover. A letter shared on social media this week from a senior Lego executive to UK toy retailers revealed that prices would increase across the board from 1 January.’
Comments