Tagsfinance

UK inheritance tax can follow you around the world

By Bill Blevins 14/04/12
UNLIKE other taxes, UK Inheritance Tax (IHT) follows you around the world, regardless of where you may reside.  This is because it is based on domicile, not residence, and it can be harder than you realise to shake off your British domicile status.  Many British expatriates remain liable to IHT even if they have lived abroad for many years.  Here’s some recent news on IHT. IHT thresholdWhile the threshold normally increases each year, it has been frozen at £325,000 since April 2009.  This year’s March budget confirmed it will not improve until April 2015.  ... 1 comment

Erratum regarding Professor Panicos Demetriades

28/03/12
WE refer to the publication of the column, ‘Tales from the Coffeeshop’, dated Sunday March 18, which contained information about Professor Panicos Demetriades that was largely incorrect. The Cyprus Mail therefore withdraws the said publication insofar as it has hurt or caused offence to the said person, and wishes to publish the following information as was provided by Professor Panicos Demetriades:(a) Professor Demetriades’ father is a retired businessman and had no known nickname. (b) Professor Demetriades has never carried out any work for AKEL.(c) Professor Demetriades carried out consultancy work commissioned by the Co-operative Central Bank of Cyprus (CCCB) in the 1990s.  ... 3 comments

Urgent need to focus on reversing downgrades

By George Psyllides 14/03/12
THE FRESH downgrade inevitably prompted criticism from the opposition, which called for additional measures to prop up the economy.DIKO vice chairman Nicolas Papadopoulos said that one of the reasons for the downgrade was the condition of the economy.“Unfortunately it seems that the consolidation measures put in place last December, despite recognised as being in the right direction, were not enough and not convincing,” Papadopoulos said. The DIKO MP said he hoped the government would not restrict its reaction to the usual attacks against the ratings agencies but also “present specific proposals on how to get out of the current financial deadlock... 6 comments

New measures to boost growth

By Jacqueline Agathocleous 10/03/12
 RULING AKEL yesterday announced plans to propose taxes on luxury goods but rejected the main opposition’s proposal to reduce VAT on electricity bills from 17 to 8.0 per cent.The announcement came as the cabinet yesterday approved half of the bills the government is promoting to boost economic growth, and as the Statistical Services said the economy contracted 0.1 per cent quarter-on-quarter in the last three months of 2011, improving from a 0.8 per cent contraction in the third quarter but slightly worse than an initial estimate of zero growth... 14 comments

EAC extends instalment scheme to those who are struggling

By Jacqueline Agathocleous 08/03/12
THE ELECTRICITY Authority of Cyprus (EAC) said yesterday it would allow those with unpaid bills to join its instalment scheme, which spreads out the cost over a 12-month period. “To help household consumers who are facing difficulties pay their bills, the EAC decided that from now own, consumers with unpaid bills can be included in the current monthly instalment scheme,” the authority announced.Under the scheme, consumers can pay a fixed amount every month to be calculated based on their estimated usage. At the end of the 12-month period, the amount is then adjusted either up or down, depending on actual consumption throughout the period... 5 comments

Change in taxation suggestions would net government more money

By Elias Hazou 07/03/12
CYPRUS should adopt a taxation regime for remote gambling based on a tax on gross profits rather than on turnover, a KPMG study recommends.The study, commissioned by the Remote Gambling Association (RGA), concluded that a taxation regime based on gross profits tax (GPT) would result in more income for the government and better social protection measures for Cypriot consumers.The RGA commissioned KPMG Cyprus to test the effectiveness of the government’s proposal to impose a 3% turnover tax on online betting... Read on

Bearing the brunt of the crisis

By Zoe Christodoulides 04/03/12
“IT FEELS terrible, having to call people up asking for money and relying on charities for help. I can’t even begin to tell you what that does to me psychologically. It’s absolutely awful,” says Yiannoula Theodorou.The 46-year-old mother glances up from her living room couch with tears in her eyes as she speaks of the continuous struggle to keep her large family above water. She is just one of the many whose families have been struck badly by the recession and growing unemployment. A number of health issues within the family have deepened the crisis... 3 comments

Policy and money flow driving the market

By Clem Chambers 04/03/12
WHEN THE stock market went off a cliff last summer, the big question was whether we were seeing the beginning of a long-term bear market, or just a pause in the ‘sideways’ equities trend of the last decade. A long-term bear would be a new phenomenon for the developed world.If you pull up a chart of the Dow, FTSE or S&P 500 going back to the 1970’s you will see that there was a bull market starting then which stretched till 2000... Read on

Do you understand your compensation limits?

By Bill Blevins 04/03/12
PRIOR TO September 2007, not many savers gave much thought to bank deposit guarantees.  After the collapse of Northern Rock and the following banking crisis compensation limits became rather more important.  Nevertheless research from the UK Financial Services Compensation Scheme (FSCS) at the end of last year found that four out of five savers did not know what their protection limits are... Read on

‘Rejecting tobacco tax rise was a mistake’

By Poly Pantelides 03/03/12
BY VOTING down a government bill to raise the consumption tax on rolling tobacco, parliament took away some €20 million earmarked for helping vulnerable groups, Finance Minister Kikis Kazamias said yesterday.The bill proposed doubling the tax from €60 per kilogram to €120 in order to address the discrepancy in taxes between manufactured and rolling tobacco.It was discussed as a matter of urgency on Thursday and while initial indications suggested it would pass, only the Greens’ Giorgos Perdikis voted in favour.Deputies for ruling party AKEL abstained while DISY, DIKO, EDEK and EVROKO voted against.“I’m very sad over the frivolity with which the House treated the government’s proposal,” Kazamias said... 4 comments
RSS - finance