Scotch whisky is one of the most profitable industries in the UK
A NEW poll by the Scotch Whisky lobby claiming that the industry is overtaxed is “spin”, campaigners for a local production tax on Scotch whisky tax have argued.
Are tax breaks really the answer to a slow-down in retail sales? CommonSpace looks at the structural issues in Scotland’s economy that need to be addressed to ensure economic prosperity
THE Scottish Retail Consortium wants the Scottish Government to deliver more tax breaks to the retail sector. The organisation, which has Scotland’s biggest retailers among its members, has said that online shopping, squeezes on household budgets and rising costs are causing it problems.
Customs expert with over 30 years experience in the UK and worldwide, Bill Austin argues that Brexit is an attempt to undermine revenue and customs collection to serve unbridled corporate power, but that there is a chance for an independent Scotland to have a tax system among the world’s best
WE NEED to explain to Scotland’s electorate, but particularly No voters, the consequences to their day-to-day lives of the catastrophic Brexit fraud concurrent with demonstrable evidence of how to protect our society through Independence in the EU. No problem, right?
Richard Murphy: “What we actually have here is…an admission that the government can create money at will. So the 'magic money tree' exists, as a matter of fact.”
A LETTER from the Economic Secretary of the Treasury has confirmed that the government does not need to raise money from taxation to fund government spending, leading to advocates of increased public investment to declare “the magic money tree exists, as a matter of fact”.
New data reveals a majority of Scots think having a low income leads to poorer health – and they’d be happy to pay more to help
A NEW REPORT from the Scottish Centre for Social Research (ScotCen) indicates that 58 per cent of Scots would be willing to pay higher taxes to improve the health of poorer people.
Time-series data from ScotCen provided to CommonSpace on attitudes to taxation, public spending and benefits suggests that a growing number of people in Scotland would be willing to pay more tax to support public services.
Richard Murphy, professor of practise in International Political Economy at City University of London and tax expert, gives his verdict on tax in the Growth Commission
THE Scottish Growth Commission report is intended to provoke discussion. I am not enamoured by its suggestions on either monetary or fiscal economic policy, but what if the related issue of taxation, on which subject I wrote a White Paper for Common Weal last year.
In para 3.58 the report says:
Christine Cooper and Richard Murphy both argue that the big four accountancy firms had proved themselves unreliable in signing off corporate balance sheets in a way that accurately assesses risk
ACCOUNTANCY experts have told CommonSpace that the Scottish Government should act on the findings of a new UK Parliamentary Committee report which called for the break up of the big four accountancy firms in light of its failures in the collapse of project management firm Carillion in January.
CommonSpace columnist and Common Weal director Robin McAlpine takes a look at Scotland's tax options
THE current tax debate in Scotland has got me a bit down. I know I have a habit of moaning about the quality of some political debate in Scotland and you may not be wrong simply to write me off as a habitual Cassandra. But what is being written and said about tax isn't changing my mind.
The Autumn Budget has been revealed with key announcements on Universal Credit, VAT and investment in technology
THE UK GOVERNMENT’S tax and spending plans for the year were announced in Chancellor Philip Hammond’s budget speech on Wednesday, which will have far-reaching consequences – one way or another – for people across the UK.
SNP 2016 election manifesto stated it would not give public procurement contracts to firms involved in tax dodging
COMMON WEAL and one of Britain’s leading tax experts have called on the Scottish Government to investigate the appropriateness of giving contracts to accountancy firms supporting tax avoidance activities in Scotland, in light of new Paradise Papers revelations on Tuesday 7 November.