Business

What to pay and not to pay taxes for?

With the increase in the pandemic alerts and restrictions there are various things prevailing in the economy and affecting it drastically. The consequences have shook the economy and raised alarms and concerns about the finances and health and most of all the job security has also increased. Business owners and the entrepreneurs are highly responsible for the time tax payments on the revenue they have generated by their business. It can be a large amount even so they still need to look out for deductions and exclusions to minimize their tax flow. A few tips and tricks are there, if followed might help any one who is self employed or an employee or a landlord or even an investor to bring more pounds by cutting the tax bills.

First is to maximize the personal savings allowance. If the person is a basic rate tax payer then they will receive 1,000 Euros interest on the savings tax free. The tax free allowance if falls under the higher rate tax payer band, is 500 Euros. And any income that exceeds this limit will be taxable. Now that it won’t be deducted by the savings provider anymore. The payment needs to be done by the self assessment or have it removed with the help of PAYE if the taxes are due. There might be a chance of not having a savings allowance as an additional rate taxpayer i.e. 45 per cent. A smart thing to do is transferring a part of your assets to your spouse or a civil partner, by doing so you can get an exemption from paying the capital gains tax. SO it is advisable to transfer the savings and the investments to your husband or wife, if they are low tax payer compared to you. Ensuring that the submissions with the HM revenue and Customs are sent and paid on time. If things do no work out they you want or it is not the way you want it to be, it may not be this straightforward always but making sure to talk to the advisor and come up with some possible ways to buy some time to deal with the situation is the best thing as it helps you avoid certain fines or interest which you may have suffered because of the delay. The profit earned from the sale of the investments like art and antiques or second houses is called as capital gains and about 12,300 Euros of capital gains were tax free in the year 2020-21. Couples who hold properties jointly can avail an allowance of 24,600 Euros. You can also claim tax free childcare about 25 percent of it and save up to 500 Euros provided you meet few conditions set. If you are self-employed you can claim the operating costs of the car you use for the company purposes. But only a certain amount can be claimed if the same vehicle is used for personal purposes too. Like claiming a fixed rate mileage allowance for work travel.

This year, UK citizens stayed back their house to help fight the pandemic and that indicated that majority of the people had to work from home, this meant that an extra claim could be made on home expenses, for example, the bills for heating or electricity rising due to working at home and the money spent on that could be saved. And to conclude, if there is still uncertainty about paying taxes it is better to have a chat with the tax advisor and be best informed to be optimized and secure your wealth for the long term.

Business

LexisNexis risk solutions study reveals sharp rise of financial crime compliance costs

Decision makers inside banks, investment firms, asset managers and insurance firms identify the drivers impacting financial crime compliance. LexisNexis® Risk Solutions revealed that the results of its annual True Cost of Financial Crime Compliance Study for the U.S. and Canada. The total projected cost of financial crime compliance for the region is approximately $49.9 billion. The survey illustrates the sharp increase in financial crime compliance costs.

The study projects the average annual cost of financial crime compliance for U.S. financial institutions with $10 billion. Pandemic Continues to Spur Growth. The pandemic continues to negatively impact compliance operations. Sixty eight percent of U.S. respondents report longer times required to complete due diligence. Fifty five percent of U.S. respondents report reduced productivity compared.

More U.S. financial institutions now rank real estate and hospitality as top money laundering risk segments. Crime involving digital payments, trade-based money laundering and money mule schemes are on the rise. Digital currency is a growing problem for Canadian firms. Crimes involving digital payments have the greatest impact on compliance costs. Cryptocurrency crimes have the greatest impact on compliance costs for Canadian firms. The survey results demonstrate that financial institutions are battling a broader set of issues.

Survey respondents indicate that a lack of current and extensive data tops the list of Know Your Customer (KYC). Leslie Bailey, vice president of financial crime compliance strategy for LexisNexis Risk Solutions stated that the study shows clear linkages between the pandemic, digital crime and increasing regulations. Hence, financial institutions need to prepare for expanded compliance obligations and risks from emerging financial crime. Bailey added that digital transformation is a game-changer for financial crime compliance operations.

This will require a sophisticated approach that incorporates insight into digital behaviors. This study surveyed 145 decision-makers in the U.S. and Canada. Responses were collected in June 2019, August 2020 and June 2021. Organizations such as banks, investment firms, asset management firms and insurance firms. The total annual cost of compliance across firms was calculated using survey data. The spend amount was generated by multiplying the average percent allocated to financial crime costs.

Business

COP26 delegates agree on need to deliver on $100 BLN climate finance pledge

Delegates heading to the COP26 U.N. climate summit in Glasgow. These delegates agreed that they must deliver on the $100 billion per year pledge. COP26 president Alok Sharma said that, it is to help most vulnerable nations for tackling the climate change.

After many days of meetings at the pre-COP26 climate event, which happened in Italy, Sharma said that there was a consensus to do more. Which is to keep the 1.5 degrees Celsius target within reach, adding more needed to be done collectively in terms of national climate plans.

The COP26 conference in Glasgow aims to secure more ambitious climate action. This is from nearly 200 countries, those all that have signed the 2015 Paris Agreement for limiting the global warming, well below 2.0 degrees Celsius. And to 1.5 degrees, above pre-industrial levels.

Business

City’s exposure to Evergrande is very minimal-Hong Kong finance Chief

Hong Kong’s exposure to debt-laden developer China Evergrande Group is very minimal at 0.05%. This is of banking assets, South China Morning Post reported, citing the city’s finance minister. Financial Secretary Paul Chan told the newspaper that it is very minimal and won’t cause them any systemic risks. He added that he had arrived at the conclusion after a recent audit of the local banking sector’s exposure to the company.

Chan also said that the Hong Kong’s stock market was inevitably subject to some volatility. This is amidst a recent mainland crackdown on some industries. But still he believed any setback would be temporary. With liabilities of $305 billion, Evergrande has sparked concerns its cash crunch could spread through China’s financial system. This may reverberate globally and that is a worry that has eased with the Chinese central bank’s vow, to protect homebuyers’ interests. Evergrande has missed two bond interest payments. Bondholders have said this and its offshore debt, amounting to about $20 billion, trades at distressed levels.