New government initiatives have been announced  in 2000 to help give adults the skills and confidence they need to handle money sensibly. It is particularly targeted at the two million adults who have no access to or choose not to use financial services. The Adult Financial Literacy Advisory Group (AdFlag) aims to promote best financial...Read More

The government is to introduce measures designed to reduce UK car prices after a DTI survey showed that UK prices were 10% to 12% higher than in other European countries. The measures being proposed include: requiring suppliers to offer dealers the same discounts they offer to fleet buyers; requiring suppliers to provide dealers with regular...Read More

The government has announced proposals for a further clampdown on timeshares. These include ensuring that timeshares cannot fall outside the scope of regulations such as giving the consumer a cooling off period. Other proposals relate to misleading statements and the inducements offered to get people to attend presentations which can last for hours. [2000]Read More

Microsoft could be split into three companies, as its anti-monopoly case in the US continues. Such fears forced a massive drop in its share price in 2000. [2000]Read More

Consumers have a very low understanding of safety, according to a survey conducted by MORI for the Department of Trade and Industry. On average, a consumer could only spot five of eleven hazards relating to a stepladder. Every year 70 people die and 250,000 are injured in DIY accidents The DTI circulated two million free...Read More

The government is expected to raise over £22 billion from the sale of airwave licences for the next generation of mobile telephones. The entire yield from corporation tax is only £30 billion. This windfall is more than enough to wipe out the need to issue any of the £12 billion of gilts planned for this...Read More

The governor of the Bank of England said in 2000 that it would have been disastrous for the UK to have joined the single currency when launched. “We would have been the elephant in the rowing boat”. Meanwhile the value of the euro continues to slide. By mid April, the euro had lost more than...Read More

Details have been announced of two changes reducing the burden of quarterly payments of corporation tax: the rate of interest charged on underpayments has been reduced by one percentage point; and the de minimis limit below which quarterly payments do not have to be made, has been doubled to £10,000. When advance corporation tax was...Read More

Transferring property for shares was not “raising money” for the purposes of the Business Expansion Scheme, the High Court has ruled. Although this Scheme was abolished in 1994, this provision has been translated into the current rules for the replacement Enterprise Investment Scheme, and so remains relevant. The company transferred two houses to a qualifying...Read More

The government announced in 2000 that 400 more “fraud-busters” are to be employed to tackle the hidden economy. These new investigators will be targeting employers to check on whether they are meeting their tax and VAT liabilities, and whether they are helping employees cheat the benefits system. This step is one of several intended to...Read More