Accountants and Bookkeepers Connections

Snow takes £750m out of Christmas retail sales, says Deloitte

Deloitte UK headlines — Fri, 21 Jan 2011 10:32:53 +0000

Snow takes £750m out of Christmas retail sales, says Deloitte

21 January 2011 Commenting on today’s ONS retail sales figures, Richard Hyman, Strategic Retail Adviser to Deloitte, said: “Today’s figures undoubtedly reflect the impact of the severe weather that struck most of the country last month. Many shoppers were at times unable to get to the high street and when there was a window of better weather, only had time to visit a few stores. We estimate that around £750m of retail spend was taken out of the market as a result of the snow. “As a result, the Christmas trading statements have been harder to read this year than ever. One thing has been clear though, the gap between the winners and losers has been far greater than might have been reasonably expected. With limited time available, it appears some retailers benefited from consumers choosing to do more of their shopping in fewer stores. Ian Geddes, UK Head of Retail at Deloitte, said: “This Christmas was all about convenience and in particular, those retailers with multi-channel operations (online and stores) performed strongly. Although trading cooled off a little as we got closer to Christmas, with consumers concerned about the ability of some online retailers to fulfil orders as a result of the weather, overall growth for online will be well into double-digits. It also appears that retailers with a higher proportion of stores closer to residential areas did better than those with a greater number in edge or out of town shopping spaces. This particularly appears to be the case in grocery.” Hyman added: “The weather has had a material impact, depriving the trade of a useful boost as we now enter what we will be an exceptionally challenging 2011. VAT has already increased and a rising inflation rate suggests an interest rate rise is a distinct possibility. Consumers will have less money in their pocket this year and it is very difficult to see how retail can escape unscathed from this. I do not expect retail sales to grow at all in 2011, with the possibility of a fall still very possible.”

Help Preparing Federal and State Taxes?

Guest 5pCfE — Mon, 10 Jan 2011 14:30:30 +0000

Deloitte comments on the Government’s Corporate Tax Reform discussion document announced today

Deloitte UK headlines — Mon, 29 Nov 2010 12:42:22 +0000

Deloitte comments on the Government’s Corporate Tax Reform discussion document announced today

29 November 2010 Bill Dodwell, head of tax policy at Deloitte, comments “We believe that the Chancellor’s proposals could have gone much further if the UK is to create better opportunities for multinationals to carry on activities here, instead of in overseas low-taxed jurisdictions, such as The Netherlands, Switzerland, Ireland and Asian hubs, such as Singapore and Hong Kong. “Although the patent box is welcome, it will apply only to a limited range of activities. Many businesses rely on intellectual property to differentiate their products and services. This can range from high-technology that isn’t patented for secrecy reasons, to software, and to brands. Whilst the UK retains some important non-tax reasons to be based here, the UK’s tax incentives have fallen behind those offered by other European and Asian countries. “However, some businesses were concerned that interest restrictions could limit one of the current attractions of the UK, and they will be pleased that the Government has decided not to introduce any form of limitation.”

Consumer Products companies optimistic on outlook for M&A

Deloitte UK - Consumer Business — Fri, 26 Nov 2010 19:01:26 +0000

Consumer products companies are broadly positive about the future profitability of their business, with only a quarter anticipating reduced profits over the next 12 months as the industry looks to a slow but steady improvement in economic conditions.

Indian and Chinese companies lead the charge in seeking new markets abroad, say PricewaterhouseCoopers economists

PwC global press releases — Fri, 19 Nov 2010 00:35:34 +0000

Indian and Chinese companies lead the charge in seeking new markets abroad, say PricewaterhouseCoopers economists

London, 29 APR 2010 -- The competitive landscape is set to be transformed over the next decade as Chinese and Indian multinationals lead the way in seeking new markets abroad, and are joined by an array of companies from Singapore, Russia, Malaysia and South Korea, says a new report from PricewaterhouseCoopers LLP (PwC). The number of companies from emerging markets choosing to set up operations abroad has increased in the last five years, in part due to the rapid pace of globalisation and the revolution in information and communications technologies. This trend is expected to continue over the next 15 years, as new multinationals from emerging economies rise in prominence on the global economic stage. Some of these new multinationals will become the international powerhouses and will require services all over the world, for example, in order to support their IT and telecoms networks, says the report entitled Emerging multinationals: The rise of new multinational companies from emerging economies. PwC used econometric techniques to project the amount of new multinationals that will arise from a representative sample of 15 emerging economies over the next 15 years. The countries analysed were: Argentina, Brazil, Chile, China, Hungary, India, Malaysia, Mexico, Poland, Romania, Russia, Singapore, South Korea, Ukraine and Vietnam. India is expected to produce the most new multinational companies, overtaking China as the emerging world’s largest source of new multinationals. Over 2200 Indian companies are projected to open operations outside the country over the next fifteen years. The South American countries in the sample (Argentina, Brazil, Chile and Mexico) are expected to be a relatively smaller source of new multinational companies while the export-orientated South East Asian countries (Malaysia and Singapore), along with oil-rich Russia and the newly industrialised South Korea, are expected to continue to produce large amounts of new multinationals. The research also provides an insight into the evolution of new multinationals from emerging economies. Yael Selfin, PwC’s head of Macro Consulting, said: “More new multinationals are moving straight into developed economies as opposed to setting up their first foreign operation in a neighbouring emerging economy. These new multinationals are increasingly likely to be in business services or higher value-add manufacturing sectors as opposed to the more basic natural resource extraction sectors.” Notes to Editor: PricewaterhouseCoopers provides industry-focused assurance, tax and advisory services to build public trust and enhance value for our clients and their stakeholders. More than 163,000 people in 151 countries across our network share their thinking, experience and solutions to develop fresh perspectives and practical advice. "PricewaterhouseCoopers" and "PwC" refer to the network of member firms of PricewaterhouseCoopers International Limited (PwCIL). Each member firm is a separate legal entity and does not act as agent of PwCIL or any other member firm. PwCIL does not provide any services to clients. PwCIL is not responsible or liable for the acts or omissions of any of its member firms nor can it control the exercise of their professional judgment or bind them in any way. No member firm is responsible or liable for the acts or omissions of any other member firm nor can it control the exercise of another member firm's professional judgment or bind another member firm or PwCIL in any way.

Concession for those taxpayers with higher tax-back demands

Blick-rothenberg — Thu, 16 Sep 2010 18:21:05 +0000

Some 45,000 taxpayers have already received letters from HM Revenue & Customs either requesting underpaid tax back, or notifying that a tax refund is due.

In a latest concession issued by The Treasury, taxpayers that owe more than £2,000 will not have to pay interest on their repayments if they get in touch and ask for more time to repay the tax that is due. Currently taxpayers have three months to repay the tax, after which point interest will start to be charged.

In an interview on BBC News at 10, Bob Rothenberg described this latest announcement as “extending to those that have more tax to pay, the same concession given to those with a lesser amount”.

He continued, “the whole exercise hasn’t really had a detailed plan” leaving taxpayers unclear of their position.

When a penalty isn’t a penalty

admin — Sat, 04 Sep 2010 18:35:25 +0000

By Jason Piper, technical officer, ACCA

I spotted an interesting little case on HMRC penalties the other day – it’s very short (barely a page or two of A4) but quite revealing, and maybe worrying too.

The important facts (which were nothing to do with the original appeal) are basically as follows:

1) 31 August 2008: Mike Christensen, area director, HMRC North West and Midlands retires

2) 3 October 2008: HMRC computer issues a penalty notice in Mike Christensen’s name.

Now, to be valid, a penalty from HMRC has to be issued by an Officer of the Board – but in October 2008 Mike Christensen was no longer ‘properly authorised’, being an ex officer. So, the Tax Tribunal found that the penalty was unenforceable.

So far, so simple – one silly admin error, one £400 penalty overturned. But that’s not all there is to it. The officer who retired was the area director – his name wasn’t on the penalty because he had anything to do with it. His name was on the penalty because that was what the computer printed on all the penalties issued in his area. Which in turn means that all the penalties issued by that computer that day were invalid… in fact, from the dates in the case we can tell that all the penalties issued in the North West and Midlands area between (at the very least) 1 September 2008 and 3 October 2008 were invalid.

All of which raises quite a few issues – why wasn’t the computer reprogrammed? How come no-one else spotted it? Why has publication been so late (the hearing was last autumn, but the judgment wasn’t released until this July)? What is the status of all those invalid penalties (now way beyond appealable)?

I doubt we’ll ever know the answers to most of those questions, but it highlights the need to check every last detail of the paperwork; you never know you may find the computer in your area is issuing penalties in the name of a long-retired area director…

accaglobal.com

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