76% HNWI: web has big role in wealth creation

Private Banker International: More than three-quarters of high net worth individuals (HNWIs) believe their engagement with digital technology and the internet has played a role in their wealth creation, new research suggests.

Full story: http://www.privatebankerinternational.com/news/76-hnwi-web-has-big-role-in-wealth-creation/

Buffett calls for a minimum tax on America's super-rich

The Independent: Warren Buffett, the billionaire investor who favours a greater burden on the wealthy, yesterday called for a minimum tax on America's millionaires but proposed a higher threshold for increased taxes on the rich than the one put forward by the White House.

Full story: http://www.independent.co.uk/news/business/news/buffett-calls-for-a-minimum-tax-on-americas-superrich-8353062.html

Scrap higher-rate pension tax relief, says expert

Private Client Adviser: The government has wasted £360bn over the past decade trying to encourage pension savings by adopting an approach that has been “misguided and ineffectual”, an analyst has claimed.

Full story: http://www.privateclientadviser.co.uk/news/pensions/scrap-higher-rate-pension-tax-relief-says-expert

Top earners to enjoy £107,000 tax cut, says Ed Miliband

The Guardian: Britain's top earners are set to receive an "eyeboggling" tax cut averaging an extra £107,000 a year, Ed Miliband has claimed as he criticised the government for standing up for the "wrong people" and putting Britain on the wrong economic course.

Full story: http://www.guardian.co.uk/politics/2012/nov/27/top-earners-tax-cut-miliband?

Withy King launches new trust company in Wiltshire

Wiltshire Business:  A new trust company has been launched by Swindon law firm, Withy King, to act as executors of Wills and trustees of trusts as well as to manage the financial, property, social and welfare affairs of vulnerable children and adults unable to do so themselves.

Full story: http://www.wiltshirebusinessonline.co.uk/news/latest/10073357._/?

FATCA enforcement deal will create ‘substantial burden’ for UK trust practitioners

STEP Journal: The UK-US agreement on implementation of the US Foreign Accounts Tax Compliance Act (FATCA) will place an enormous burden on UK trust practitioners, says STEP.

Full story: http://www.stepjournal.org/news/news/secondary_news/fatca_enforcement_deal_will_cr.aspx?link=journalTitle

Macfarlanes rehires top-rated private client partner from Speechlys

Legal Week: Macfarlanes has turned to Speechly Bircham for a rare partner hire, with the reappointment of Charles Gothard to its private client practice.

Full story: www.legalweek.com/legal-week/news/2227248/macfarlanes-rehires-toprated-private-client-partner-from-speechlys

Government considering top-rate tax cuts for philanthropists

The Daily Telegraph:  An official report commissioned by ministers is to call for a cut in the top rate of income tax for the country’s most generous philanthropists.

Full story: http://www.telegraph.co.uk/culture/culturenews/9700481/Government-considering-top-rate-tax-cuts-for-philanthropists.html

Tax evasion flourishing with help from UK firms

BBC News: A flourishing industry which helps people evade UK tax has been uncovered following an investigation by the BBC's Panorama programme.

Full story: http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-20451176

Tax avoiders to get warning shot from HMRC

BBC News: Hundreds of suspected tax avoiders are to receive letters in the coming weeks warning them that their financial affairs are facing special scrutiny.

Full story: http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/business-20466304

Cable: rich face property tax raid 'within weeks'

IFA Online: The country's rich face a further coalition tax raid 'in the next few weeks', according to business secretary Vince Cable.  Speaking on the BBC's Andrew Marr Show on Sunday, Cable signalled the government would use the Autumn Statement, on December 5, to unveil a new tax rate for the well off.

Full story: http://www.ifaonline.co.uk/ifaonline/news/2225535/cable-rich-face-property-tax-raid-within-weeks?WT.rss_f=Home&WT.rss_a=Cable%3A+rich+face+property+tax+raid+%27within+weeks%27

Commission calls for Welsh government income tax powers

BBC News: The Welsh government should have the power to vary income tax by 2020, an influential report on the future of devolution has said. The Silk Commission says a referendum should be held on whether Welsh ministers ought to have new powers over income tax rates.

Full story: http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-wales-politics-20346118

Tax amnesty: own up now and avoid a fine

The Telegraph: HM Revenue & Customs is offering its first general amnesty in a bid to boost the tax take for the Treasury. The amnesty will target many middle-class taxpayers, who will now have the opportunity to own up to previous undeclared earnings and unpaid taxes and avoid some of the harshest penalties available.

Full story: http://www.telegraph.co.uk/finance/personalfinance/consumertips/tax/9683961/Tax-amnesty-own-up-now-and-avoid-a-fine.html

Gerard Depardieu flees France to seek Belgium asylum from wealth tax

The Telegraph: Gerard Depardieu has become the latest rich Frenchman to flee his country and the stinging wealth taxes levied by Francois Hollande, the Socialist President of France.

Full story: http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/worldnews/europe/france/9675714/Gerard-Depardieu-flees-France-to-seek-Belgium-asylum-from-wealth-tax.html

Decision time for Swiss account holders

Accountancy Live: UK residents with Swiss bank accounts are being warned that they must either provide full details to HMRC or pay over a proportion of the money in their account and a future withholding tax.

Full story: http://www.accountancylive.com/croner/jsp/Editorial.do?contentId=2341891&BV_SessionID=@@@@1924022836.1353008033@@@@&BV_EngineID=ccciadfifmghigicflgceggdfnfdgfg.0&channelId=-601049

Field Fisher and Osborne Clarke abandon talks over £200m merger

The Lawyer: Field Fisher Waterhouse (FFW) and Osborne Clarke have called off their merger talks after failing to agree a £200m combination.

Full story: http://www.thelawyer.com/field-fisher-and-osborne-clarke-abandon-talks-over-200m-merger/1015525.article

Barack Obama: US wealthiest must pay more tax

BBC News: US President Obama has reiterated his call for high earners in the US to pay more in taxes, in his first news conference since winning re-election.

Full story: http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-us-canada-20333066

Insider leaks HSBC Jersey client names to UK authorities

STEP Journal: UK taxpayers with undisclosed HSBC bank accounts in Jersey are being advised to act quickly, after it emerged that HM Revenue and Customs (HMRC) has obtained a complete list of their names, addresses and account balances from a secret source.

Full story: http://www.stepjournal.org/news/news/main_story/insider_leaks_hsbc_jersey_clie.aspx?link=journalTitle

Foundations set to increase in popularity

Private Client Adviser: Foundations are becoming increasingly attractive vehicles for private clients and will be particularly relevant to those in civil law jurisdictions, say wealth planning experts.

Full story: http://www.privateclientadviser.co.uk/news/financial-planning/foundations-set-increase-popularity

Jonathanfry poaches Coutts banker for south west push

CityWire: Boutique jonathanfry is the latest wealth manager to push into the South West, after poaching a senior private banker from Coutts’ Dorset office.

Full story: http://citywire.co.uk/wealth-manager/jonathanfry-poaches-coutts-banker-for-south-west-push/a632344?ref=wealth-manager-latest-news-list

Wilsons transfers Bristol office to Michelmores

The Lawyer: Wilsons is to offload its Bristol office to Michelmores following a protracted legal spat with two partners at the base.

Full story: http://www.thelawyer.com/wilsons-transfers-bristol-office-to-michelmores/1015478.article

VIEWING FAILURE POSITIVELY – THE KEY TO ECONOMIC GROWTH?

Campden FO: The rich must be reading all those books about the power of positive thinking. According to a new study, the majority of wealthy people reckon viewing failure positively is essential for economic growth.

Full story: http://www.campdenfb.com/article/viewing-failure-positively-key-economic-growth

Tax avoidance: is the tide turning?

CityWire: A pair of eyes peer out from a hole in a piece of card above an ominous warning: ‘We’re closing in on undeclared income.’ HM Revenue & Customs (HMRC) wants us to know it’s getting serious about tax avoidance.

Full story: http://www.citywire.co.uk/money/tax-avoidance-is-the-tide-turning/a633724?

HMRC launches website in tax evasion amnesty

FT: HM Revenue & Customs has launched an advertising campaign warning tax cheats to declare all their income before it is too late and has set up a website to provide an effective amnesty for individuals that may not currently paying the correct level of tax.

Full story: http://www.ftadviser.com/2012/11/12/regulation/regulators/hmrc-launches-website-in-tax-evasion-amnesty-qbVhII7dAdrFPSnnuQrBAP/article.html?

Art gems donated to pay £25m tax

BBC News: Paintings by Sir Joshua Reynolds, JMW Turner and Peter Paul Rubens have been donated to the nation in lieu of tax after the deaths of their owners. Fifty-one items of "major cultural significance" worth a total of £40m were offered in place of £25m of inheritance tax between 2010 and 2012.

Full story: http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/entertainment-arts-20252653?

BDO and PKF confirm "advanced merger discussions"

Accountancy Age: BDO and PKF are in "advanced discussions" to merge in the new year, they have confirmed. A merged entity would create a firm with more than £400m in revenues, with 3,500 staff.

Full story: http://www.accountancyage.com/aa/news/2222986/bdo-and-pkf-confirm-advanced-merger-discussions

StanChart private bank to focus on super-rich clients

Reuters: Standard Chartered Plc's private banking arm says it aims to focus on business from super-rich clients as it expands its services to the wealthy in Asia, Africa and the Middle East.

Full story: http://uk.reuters.com/article/2012/11/05/gulf-stanchart-wealth-idUKL5E8M42RA20121105

STEP appoints new chair

Private Client Adviser: British Virgin Islands-based private client practitioner Hélène Anne Lewis TEP has been named new chair of the Society of Trust and Estate Practitioners (STEP), the international body for practitioners in estate planning.

Full story: http://www.privateclientadviser.co.uk/news/international/step-appoints-new-chair

Revenue strikes deal with tax evaders

Accountancy Age: Several tax evaders included on a list passed to the taxman by the French authorities will not be prosecuted and retain their anonymity after they struck deals with the HMRC.

Full story: http://www.accountancyage.com/aa/news/2222069/revenue-strikes-deal-with-tax-evaders

Bradley Wiggins withdraws from controversial tax-dodging scheme linked with company in Caymans

This is Money: Olympic gold medalist and Tour de France winner Bradley Wiggins has withdrawn from a controversial tax-avoidance scheme, he said today. The 32-year-old cyclist was criticised last week after it was revealed he was using a scheme named Twofold First Services, reportedly owned by a company based in the Cayman Islands.

Full story: http://www.thisismoney.co.uk/money/news/article-2227264/Bradley-Wiggins-withdraws-controversial-tax-dodging-scheme-linked-company-Caymans.html?

Britain's taxes among highest in world, accountants say

The Telegraph: Wealthy Britons are being taxed at a higher rate than almost any other leading nation in the world, new analysis shows, as stealth taxes mean that entrepreneurs are being driven away.

Full story: http://www.telegraph.co.uk/finance/personalfinance/consumertips/tax/9654465/Britains-taxes-among-highest-in-world-accountants-say.html

UK’s higher earners have one of world’s biggest tax burdens

The Scotman: Higher earners in the UK face one of the highest tax burdens in the world, according to figures from a Scottish accountancy firm. Campbell Dallas LLP said out of 26 countries analysed, the UK had the ninth highest tax burden on those earning £125,000 and £160,000 per year, and the sixth highest for those earning £950,000.

Full story: http://www.scotsman.com/news/uk/uk-s-higher-earners-have-one-of-world-s-biggest-tax-burdens-1-2614346?