Tax accountants are advising buy-to-let investors to make sure their tax affairs are in order – because they are probably paying too much. Despite reports of a crackdown on buy-to-let, with lurid headlines about tax inspectors trawling the small ads in local papers for undeclared lettings, very few landlords are evading tax, according to tax accountants in the sector. The more usual problem is that they miss out on many allowances that could slash their tax bills. Amateur landlords...
ECB Defies Opposition and Hikes Rates
Posted in currency | Thursday, July 26th, 2007 | Trackback
The European Central Bank (ECB) today raised the benchmark European lending rate to 4%, its highest level in six years. The move came amid fierce opposition by European politicians who rightfully fear that higher interest rates will only send the Euro higher against other industrialized currencies and crimp the European economy. The Euro is hovering around record levels against the USD, Japanese Yen, and Chinese Yuan, even though its economy is probably the weakest of the bunch. However, the nature of the European Union means the interests of all member countries need to be looked after; while many of the traditional European powerhouse economies are struggling, Eastern Europe, for example, is thriving. Taking matters into his own hand, Frances new president, Nicolas Sarkozy, is threatening to legislate a forced decline in the Euro, and many analysts think he may succeed. The Telegraph reports:
Sarkozy and Prodi are not going to let go of this. There’s a groundswell of feeling that Europe is being taken for a ride by the rest of the world, and they’re not going to put up with it any more.
Read More: http://www.telegraph.co.uk/money/main.jhtml?xml=/money/2007/06/07/ccecb107.xml
