It’s lowdown time and it’s Friday. Truly a magical time to be alive.
* * *
BBC uncovers tax avoidance scheme
An undercover investigation by the BBC has discovered that Anderson Group, one of the recruitment industry’s most high-profile companies, is “promoting an aggressive tax avoidance scheme which experts are calling abusive”.
According to the BBC report, the scheme works by exploiting the government’s Employment Allowance. The scam could deprive the Treasury of tens of millions of pounds of National Insurance payments.
Richard Murphy explained the scheme in detail on his blog, “The scheme abuses the employment allowance introduced in April 2014 that provides small employers with a rebate of £2,000 a year on their employer’s national insurance charges. This means that for a company with three employees on the minimum wage most of their employer’s national insurance cost in a year is effectively cancelled.”
Anderson Group responded that all of its services are fully compliant with UK tax laws. HMRC has already promised to pursue the users and promoters of the scheme.
* * *
One in three audited company accounts are flawed
A new review by the FRC has found that one in three audited company accounts are flawed.
The number of problem audits has fallen from 40% in the past year, but “the speed of improvements is not as good as we would like”, said Paul George, executive director of conduct at the FRC.
The review also noted a shortage of scepticism among some British auditors in spite of improvements made in other areas of accounting.
* * *
FIFA’s financial chickens come home to roost
The long-time mutterings around FIFA’s financial impropriety has finally reached critical mass.
Scandal has engulfed football’s governing body after Swiss officials arrested seven FIFA officials early Wednesday morning at a five star hotel in Zurich. The arrests were made at the request of the US Department of Justice.
The investigation alleges that FIFA officials received almost a hundred million pounds in bribes to secure broadcasting rights.
The Russian and Qatari world cup bids – which were both successful – are now under investigation, too.
* * *
On this day in 1453, the Ottoman armies sack Constantinople, ending the Byzantine empire.