Day: September 22, 2015

    Thousands of contractors and freelancers have become ensnared in a £5.5bn tax grab – aimed initially at wealthy tax dodgers – that allows HM Revenue & Customs to demand backdated taxes to be paid, in full, within a three-month deadline. The allegedly underpaid tax can relate to periods of employment from many years ago. HMRC was handed the powers last year to force wealthy investors accused of using “aggressive tax avoidance” schemes to pay their potential tax liabilities up front, instead of having to chase them through the courts. Previously, HMRC was forced to pursue its missing billions in costly court battles, prompting the Government to approve the legislation in 2014. Millionaire businesspeople and Premier League footballers are now facing tax demands of up to £...

    The Prime Minister's record on defence and foreign affairs has been criticised in the second excerpt of Lord Ashcroft's book, which is being serialised in the Daily Mail. David Cameron has been accused of rank incompetence over his handling of Syria's civil war. According to the new book, former Tory chairman Michael Ancram says Libya is Mr Cameron’s ‘Iraq’. The country now is more dangerous than when the PM decided to topple Colonel Gaddafi, according to Lord Ancram. And Mr Cameron's rocky relationship with his former chief of defence staff, General Sir David Richards is exposed. According to the book, General Richards says he had to tell Mr Cameron that "being in the Combined Cadet Force at Eton" did not qualify him to decide the tactics of complex military operations. A...