The temporary absence of Bob the maintenance man and
his beautiful assistant apprentice, Roger, (repairs to the
Lowtax office wall necessitated by an unfortunate writer’s
failure to proof-read, since you ask. He won’t make
that mistake again in a hurry…) have resulted in a temporary
clearing of the cigarette/curry/body odour smog in our basement
office, and a significant improvement in the productivity
of the PBTG team.
Hence this week there are not one, but two PBTG exclusive
stories for me to talk about, and a Singapore long profile
under development.
We’ll turn first to Switzerland, then, where a
survey
conducted by Swiss banking group, Credit Suisse, in conjunction
with the Centre for European Economic Research (ZEW) has shown
that there is increased optimism this month amongst the business
community and the wider population with regard to the future
of the Swiss economy.
According to the Financial Market Test Switzerland poll, economic
expectations brightened up again somewhat in August after
a dip during June and July, with the Credit Suisse ZEW indicator
relating to such expectations gaining 6.9 points, bringing
it to the 9.1 mark. This translated to one quarter of respondents
(+7.2%) now predicting that economic prospects will improve
over the coming six months. At the same time, the share of
experts who forecast a weaker economic trend ahead remained
nearly unchanged at 15.9% (+0.3%), while 59.1% revealed that
their economic outlook was unchanged.
The situation also brightened in recent months for Swiss SMEs
with regard to obtaining financing, it emerged, as a result
of a new venture capital initiative launched earlier this
year by Credit Suisse; SVC-Ltd for Risk Capital for SMEs is
a new subsidiary company established by the banking group
(in partnership with the Swiss Venture Club) investing both
in start-ups and existing firms seeking to expand, in a variety
of different ways.
Back in the UK, meanwhile, accounting and business advisory
firm Deloitte announced the launch
of its Entrepreneurship UK 2010/11 survey (open to submissions
until the end of September), which will help to compile the
report of the same name later in the year, and aims to gather
information on the attitudes and aspirations of entrepreneurs
in the UK.
Tony Cohen, head of the entrepreneurial business practice
at Deloitte suggested that this year’s snapshot of the
situation for entrepreneurs is likely to be quite different
from that which emerged in 2009, observing that:
“The business landscape has changed significantly over
the last 12 months. The UK economy is making tentative moves
out of recession and we find ourselves entering an age of
austerity. Those entrepreneurs that took the tough decisions
last year, putting in place the necessary measures to ensure
they rode out the storm of the recession, should now find
themselves in a far stronger position in 2010.”
And now, I need to go and stop the PBTG team from taking too
many deep breaths…don’t want to use up all the
clean air!
According to figures recently released by the UK's Federation of Small Businesses, SMEs and micro-businesses were hard hit in the final quarter of last year by a combination of factors, including increased utility bills, high inflation, and reduced consumer spending power. RSS
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The implementation of new rules and support for SMEs and other businesses in Singapore to re-employ older workers, in the face of a rapidly ageing population took effect earlier this month. RSS
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Figures published by the Hong Kong Companies Registry earlier this month have revealed that the number of start-ups registering in 2011 showed an increase of 6.31% last year on 2010 figures, with a record 148,329 registering over the course of the year. RSS
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The Irish Small and Medium Enterprises Association (ISME) has this month slammed the Republic's government once again for delays in implementing the jobs initiative that was a key post-election pledge. RSS
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Concern has been expressed regarding a ramping up of HM Revenue and Customs' Business Record Checks programme set to take place in April, with many small businesses fearing that the fine which can be imposed if they fail to provide adequate records to support their tax returns may push them into insolvency. RSS
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I am facing a dilemma and would like to invite any reader to advise me.
I am a Brit who has lived outside UK since 1993- initially in Belgium (5 years) & subsequently in 4 African countries. After a year outside UK, the UK Inland Revenue confirmed my status as ‘non-resident’ for tax purposes and as I have had no income in UK, I have not completed a UK tax return for many years. I visit UK very rarely, normally for one or two weeks per year.
In May 2011, I was made redundent by my employers, who were downsizing. This coincided with a move to retire in the Netherlands, where I now have official residency (my wife is Dutch). I thought that, at 63 years of age, I would be unlikely to find suitable employment; in fact, I have not tried hard and had resigned myself to permanent (but slightly premature) retirement.
However, to my surprise, I have recently been approached (through a mutual acquaintance) by a company that wishes to use my skills on a project in the Isle of Man. The role, if & when confirmed, would see me working for about 10 days a month in Isle of Man, with about 5-7 additional days per month, working from home. Contract will be for about two years. The firm has asked me to confirm if I would prefer to be paid (and therefore be taxed) in Netherlands or Isle of Man, the idea being that I create a self-employment entity for this employment. I have no data on which to base a response. Given Isle of Man's traditional ‘low tax ‘environment, are there any benefits to declaring an income in IOM? Are there any Isle of Man residency implications? Netherlands takes a tax cut on total world wide income, and, as I have never had any contact with the Dutch authorities, I am reluctant to start such a relationship now. Do I have to declare income in both countries, with a breakdown prorata to the time spent in each jurisdiction? Should I declare income to UK Inland revenue?
If anyone has pertinent advice on these points, I’d be grateful to hear them.
Just wondering if anyone 'on the ground', as it were, might be reading and able to help me...I was considering relocating my hairdressing business from the UK to Ireland before the economy started to go properly belly-up...now, not so much.
Are things as bad as they seem over there, or is it being over-hyped by the media? And is the government still keen to support small business people? Cos if not, I'll look elsewhere...
Hi, I live in South Africa, and along with 2 business partners (one in South Africa and one in Ireland - all South African citizens though) are setting up a company that designs Smart phone applications. As they will be sold on the various platforms (none of which operate out of South Africa)we have to list our company as operating out of Ireland anyway. As such, we have decided to set up our company in the best tax country and are wanting info on whether Jersey or Malta is best? If anyone has some inside info we would really appreciate it!! Thanks!Mary
I am moving full time to France in Jan 2012 where I will be working as a freelance contract engineer to a number of Australian based companies. It is my choice to move to France not a work requirement. I will be renting my house out in Austrlalia and renting a house while I am in France. I hold both EU & Austrlain citizenshiip. I am married with 2 young children. Approx total family income $100k AUD. Do I pay tax in France or Australia or both ? Any help or guidance would be much appreciated.France move
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