The news headlines this morning feature late paying businesses being named and shamed, McDonald’s accused of tax avoidance and a Cheltenham nightclub boss jailed over VAT fraud. Here’s the Thursday 9am Lowdown.
Late payers will be named and shamed
The government will name and shame some of the UK’s biggest businesses unless they radically improve the treatment of their supply chains.
According to The Times, the new regime comes in the wake of criticism of the Prompt Payment Code for appearing to allow companies to pay lip-service to good supplier relations while taking 120 days or longer to settle their bills.
Business minister Matthew Hancock added that the 1,786 companies on the government’s prompt payment code must abide by tougher rules or face expulsion from the scheme.
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McDonald’s accused of tax avoidance
Trade unions have accused McDonald’s of avoiding more than €1bn in taxes across Europe in another example of Luxembourg helping multinationals to slash their tax liabilities.
As reported in Bloomberg, McDonald’s routed billions of euros in royalties from its European operations to benefit from a Luxembourg tax loophole.
A new report will be published today by a coalition of European and US labour groups.
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Cheltenham nightclub boss jailed over VAT fraud
The former company director of The Prom Club has been jailed for eight months following an investigation by HMRC.
Cheltenham nightclub director Paul Regan falsified invoices for VAT repayments for over a year after the nightclub ceased trading in May 2012.
In addition to the custodial sentence, a confiscation order was also granted.
He has been ordered to repay £23,682 in full within six months or serve a further 12 months in jail, according to the Gloucestershire Echo.