Mediaboss Marketing

12 March 2012 Last updated at 21:13 ET By Fran Abrams Reporter, BBC Radio 4's File on 4

Almost 100 permanent posts at local councils are being filled by people paid through limited companies, the BBC has learned.

Dozens of high-earners are allowed to make their own tax arrangements rather than be paid through the PAYE system.

Public accounts committee chair Margaret Hodge described the situation as a "tax avoidance scheme, which is totally wrong".

The Local Government Association said councils adhere to strict HMRC rules.

BBC Radio 4's File on 4 programme submitted a Freedom of Information request to more than 400 local authorities throughout the UK.

Several councils said they did not know whether all of their permanent employees were paid via PAYE, but some acknowledged they did employ some staff through limited companies.

Hackney Council in London had the highest number, with 39 people in permanent posts paid through external companies.

This is a tax avoidance scheme which is totally wrong. Where you are a public servant it's not right you should be paid in a way that avoids tax

Hammersmith and Fulham Council in London said 11 posts were filled by people paid through personal service companies, and a number of smaller councils had substantial numbers too.

Read this article:
Council high earners 'avoid tax'

By Mike Nester For The Prairie Advocate News

MOUNT CARROLL The Carroll County Board of Review voted 2-0 to deny the Eastland School Districts protest and appeal of the real estate tax assessment in Freedom Township.

The three-member board heard Eastlands protest Monday morning, March 12, at a special hearing at the Carroll County Courthouse. Presenting Eastlands case was attorney Tim Zollinger.

Zollinger, whose presentation ran longer than the 20 minutes given, argued the county assessor had no legal authority to reassess Freedom Township and the equalization factor should only be eight percent, not nearly 20 percent.

Eastlands attorney also presented two appellate court cases from Jo Daviess County were individual property owners won decisions over the county assessor.

Carroll County States Attorney Scott Brinkmeier said he had studied the cases and felt they were not an equal comparison. Brinkmeier said the cases dealt with individual properties, not an entire township.

Zollinger said on a few occasions during the hearing that the appeal was not about getting more money for the Eastland School District but holding the assessor accountable.

Zollinger also unsuccessfully argued that according to tax code ILCS 200/9-75 the county assessor had no authority to assess Freedom Township prior to the annual four-year assessment.

However, the Illinois Dept. of Revenue (IDR) has already ruled that under ILCS 200/9-80 the Carroll County Office of Assessment had the legal obligation to assess Freedom Township based on the sales ratio study, which showed Freedom Township taxpayers would be paying 58.48 of their actual assessed value instead of the required 33.3 percent.

Board of Review member Judy Dampman said she agreed with the state saying everything was done correctly.

View post:
Board of Review Denies Eastland Protest & Appeal

Would-be deep sea miner Chatham Rock Phosphate has secured funding for its 2012 work programme, bringing on board American private investors under a shares-and-options structure that could deliver a 50 percent shareholding to the newcomers.

CRP managing director Chris Castle said the deal will initially give Subsea Investments II a 19.9 percent stake in the NZX-listed company, which is seeking to replace imported phosphate with product mined from the Chatham Rise.

Subsea would need Takeovers Code waivers or approvals to take a larger stake than that, but the options arrangements announced today could theoretically take it to 50 percent of CRP.

CRP shares have not traded today, but have risen 21 percent in the past week to trade most recently at 23 cents. Castle was in Toronto last week and briefed mining industry analysts on the companys progress.

However, plans to list on either the Toronto or Australian stock exchanges in the near future were now on hold, thanks to Subseas involvement, Castle told BusinessDesk.

Its still our intention to do an IPO when market conditions improve, he said, but the pressure was now off as we are now effectively funded for 2012. The project would be progressively de-risked to improve both the strike price and prospect of success for an eventual international IPO.

The company has up to $10 million of environmental, geo-technical and other projects on the books as it moves towards applying for a mining licence later this year and to file an environmental impact assessment under forthcoming legislation covering development of resources in New Zealands Exclusive Economic Zone.

Little is known publicly of Subsea Investments, except that they are a group of US-based private equity investors whom Castle met recently in Florida for due diligence discussions.

Under the arrangements announced today, Subsea is buying 11.4 million CRP shares for 20 cents apiece to raise $2.28 million, and the same number of unlisted three-year options for exercise on a one-for-one basis at 30 cents a share.

Subject to shareholder approval at a special meeting to be held in early April, the agreement will also see Subsea inject another $370,000 for 1.85 million CRP shares, also at 20 cents each, and a convertible loan to advance up to $3.3 million to CRP, with a further 18.3 million shares options offered for conversion at 20 cents a share, matching the second tranche of shares issued and the value of the loan.

Read more from the original source:
Chatham Rock secures 2012 funding, offshore listing delayed

First Deputy Prime Minister Viktor Zubkov is proposing aclampdown onoffshore business, putting his weight behind draft legislation towiden tax authorities' power toprevent illegal offshore financial activities.

Prepared bythe Federal Service forFinancial Monitoring, or RosFinMonitoring, under Zubkov's aegis andfinished this month, thebill suggests broadening therights ofboth banks andtax agents intheir dealings with offshore financial structures, Vedomosti reported Monday.

Included inthe draft, ofwhich Vedomosti obtained acopy, are proposals toallow banks andtax authorities tomake it more difficult forRussian businesses tocreate offshore firms, toimpose more rules oncompany owners andto oblige firms toreveal their beneficial owners. Thebill also lets tax andbanking agents penalize companies financially fortrying touse offshore structures.

In2011, about 2 trillion rubles ($68 billion) was sent out ofthe Russian economy, according toZubkov's estimates, Vedomosti reported. Also, RosFinMonitoring andthe Central Bank found that about 1 trillion rubles ofa net capital outflow ofroughly 2.5 trillion rubles bore indications ofmoney laundering, most ofit occurring through fly-by-night firms.

Zubkov casts along shadow onRosFinMonitoring: He was thefirst head ofthe agency after President Vladimir Putin created it in2004 andserved there until Putin appointed him prime minister in2007.

Continued here:
Zubkov Seeks Offshoring Crackdown

For Immediate Release

Chicago, IL - 03/13/2012 - Zacks highlights commentary from People and Picks Trader " inthemoneystocks " .

For more Voice of the People, visit http://at.zacks.com/?id=5851

Featured Post

Chinese Internet Stocks Signal Trouble

As of Monday afternoon, many of the leading Chinese internet stocks are coming under some distribution. Last night, China reported some economic data that was below analysts' expectations. This tells us that the world's hottest economy could be cooling off. Any slowdown in China could be problematic for the global economy.

Sina Corp ( SINA ) is a leading Chinese internet stock that started the session very strong. The stock traded as high as $80.80 a share at the open. This afternoon, SINA is trading lower by $2.51 to $74.89 a share. This is a reversal of nearly $6.00 a share from the intra-day high. If the stock closes at this level it will have formed a bearish outside reversal day on the charts.

The volume is also slightly higher than most of the past trading days and this tells us that the sell-off has institutional conviction. The stock will have very good daily chart support around the $61.00 level. Short term traders can watch for intra-day support around the $73.00, and $70.66 levels.

Other leading Chinese internet stocks that are coming under intra-day selling pressure include Baidu Inc ( BIDU ), Netease.com Inc ( NTES ) and Sohu.com Inc ( SOHU ). These leading Chinese internet stocks should be followed very closely over the next week or so. Further reversal days in the Chinese ADR's could be signal future problems ahead for the Chinese economy.

About the Zacks Community

See the original post:
Zacks' Voice of the People highlights opportunities with Sina, Baidu, Netease.com and Sohu.com - Press Releases