Budget 2016: George Osborne’s Cuts Means 370,000 Disabled People Will Lose £3,500 A Year

George Osborne has been warned his cuts to disability benefits will see 370,000 disabled people lose an average of £3,500 a year, as Tory opposition to the plans grow.

The chancellor yesterday confirmed £4.4bn would be slashed from benefits for disabled people over the course of the parliament by cutting Personal Independence Payments (PIP).

How America's Gun Manufacturers Are Quietly Getting Richer Off Taxpayers

In January 2013, a month after the mass shooting at Sandy Hook Elementary School, the state of New York passed gun control legislation that included a ban on the retail sale of assault weapons. Soon after, Remington Outdoor Company, the maker of the Bushmaster assault rifle used in the massacre, announced it would lay off workers at its 200-year-old factory in Ilion and move production to Huntsville, Alabama. Then CEO George Kollitides explained in a letter to New York officials that the move was brought on by "state policies affecting use of our products."

Liberals’ tax changes to cost $100M more than expected, watchdog says

OTTAWA—The federal budget watchdog says the Liberals’ tax-bracket changes will drain about $100 million more per year from the public treasury than the government expects.

Since winning the election, the Liberals fulfilled their campaign vow to cut federal income taxes for middle-income earners by raising the rate on the highest-earning Canadians.

Jeb Bush Proposing Broad Tax Cuts

WASHINGTON, Sept 8 (Reuters) - Republican presidential candidate Jeb Bush is proposing broad tax cuts for individuals and corporations as part of a plan to trigger stronger U.S. economic growth if he is elected in November 2016.

Bush laid out key elements of his tax overhaul framework in an opinion article posted on Tuesday for the Wall Street Journal, a day before he gives a speech outlining his plan in North Carolina.

With his tax plan, Bush showed how he was attempting to court Republican voters with serious policy ideas at a time when attention has been focused on brash New York billionaire Donald Trump.

Target Canada's Failure Translates Into $1.6-Billion Tax Break For Retailer

Target lost some US$5.1 billion in all on its ill-fated Canadian venture, but Uncle Sam is softening some of the blow, to the tune of $1.6 billion.

That’s the size of the tax break Minneapolis-based Target expects to see in the U.S. this year as a result of its writedown of Canadian assets, according to a filing with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission, first obtained by the Minneapolis-St. Paul Business Journal.

Chris Christie's Tax Breaks Reward Political Insiders

CAMDEN, N.J. (AP) — Under Republican Gov. Chris Christie, New Jersey has authorized more than $2 billion in economic development tax breaks since 2014, often to corporations with notable political connections. One grant went to a developer who owes millions of dollars on an unpaid state loan, an Associated Press review found.

That total of tax breaks handed out by New Jersey's Economic Development Authority is more than the total amount issued during the decade before Christie took office.

Canada's Wealthiest Don't Deserve More Leeway on Taxes

There is a double standard when it comes to paying taxes in Canada. And the Canada Revenue Agency makes it worse with each passing year.

Take the recent news story about Irwin Rodier, the Montreal doctor with accounts at the Swiss branch of HSBC. Leaked data showed that he had hidden money in the account and that he went to extraordinary, almost "paranoid," efforts to keep it a secret. He did not report this money in his tax returns nor did he pay taxes on it. That is against the law.

Doubling contributions to TFSAs is simply pampering the privileged

The Harper government gives five reasons why Canadians ought to be happy with its proposal to double the maximum contribution to the Tax-Free Savings Account. Examine each of its points more closely, however, and it’s clear that the TFSA carries far higher risks than rewards — for individual Canadians as well as for the economy as a whole.

IL Governor Rauner Gets $750,000 Tax Break, Proposes Slashing Services to Middle Class and Poor

Illinois' new GOP Governor, Bruce Rauner, will personally receive a $750,000 per year tax cut as a result of his decision not to continue the state's temporary 1.25% income tax surcharge that expired last year.

His taxes were cut by an amount equal to the annual income of 14 families of four making the median income. And remember that after adjusting for inflation, that median income number has not materially increased in about 35 years, since virtually all of the income growth resulting from the massive increase in worker productivity over that period has been siphoned off by speculators like Rauner.

Harper announces tax breaks for LNG industry in B.C. to spur job growth

SURREY, B.C. - Prime Minister Stephen Harper announced tax breaks Thursday for British Columbia's liquefied natural gas industry, though not a single project has yet reached a final investment decision.

Harper, who made the announcement at a technical university in Surrey, B.C., said companies will receive a capital cost allowance of 30 per cent for equipment used in natural gas liquefaction and 10 per cent for buildings at a facility that liquefies natural gas.

Tax relief will be available for capital assets acquired between now and 2025.

Harper said the tax incentives will provide the right conditions for the LNG industry to succeed and compete in the global economy while spurring job growth.

Canada looking at LNG tax breaks in federal budget: document

OTTAWA (Reuters) - The Canadian government is studying the idea of providing new tax breaks in the upcoming federal budget for companies that build liquefied natural gas (LNG) export terminals, according to internal records obtained by Reuters.

Such incentives could help companies move forward with stalled developments in Canada, even as they cut spending around the world in response to plummeting oil prices.

Senate Votes To Extend Tax Breaks Through December

WASHINGTON (AP) — Banks, retailers, commuters and teachers will keep their temporary tax breaks for another year after Congress gave final approval Tuesday to a massive tax package affecting millions of businesses and individuals.

The last-minute bill would extend the expired tax breaks through the end of the year, enabling taxpayers to claim them on their 2014 tax returns. Beyond this year, their fate will once again be uncertain.

BC Oil and Gas Tax Breaks Top $1 Billion. How Much Profit Flows Back? Unknown

British Columbia Auditor General Carol Bellringer raised eyebrows earlier this month when she pointed out that the province has extended more than $1 billion in tax credits to natural gas companies over the past two years.

But amid all the discussion of liquefied natural gas tax rates, industry tax credits and potential gas revenues, one figure is conspicuously absent. "Government take" is a key consideration for industry in any investment decision. How much of the profit from the sale of natural gas does a government take?

When Mega Corporations Get Mega Tax Breaks, We All Pay

Is corporate CEO pay really out of control? Well, consider Fleecing Uncle Sam, a new report from the Institute for Policy Studies and the Center for Effective Government. Of the 100 highest-paid CEOs in the US, the study finds, twenty-nine of them received more compensation than their companies paid in federal income tax.

Take American Airlines, for example. CEO W. Douglas Parker took home $17.7 million in total compensation in 2013, while his company received a $22 million tax refund. It makes you wonder. After all, American didn’t have a lot of income on which to pay taxes—the company’s pre-tax income in 2013 was negative $2 billion—so is AA sending us a message that tax avoidance, and not air transport, is their real business? Parker certainly piloted his company to be more success at the former than he did the latter.

Tax Breaks for BC Frackers Reach over $1 Billion

The government of British Columbia has extended more than $1 billion in the form of tax credits to largely foreign-owned oil and gas companies fracking vast expanses of northern B.C. over the last five years.

According to the B.C. auditor general's 2014 summary financial statements report, the province delivered $587 million in incentives to the fracking industry alone last year and $412 million in 2013. The payments were all deducted from royalties.

Stephen Harper’s income-splitting plan would shortchange Ontarians

It’s not merely unfair, but unaffordable. And unfathomably un-federal.

Not to split hairs, but income-splitting is perhaps the most indefensible and insidious campaign gimmick ever conjured up by Prime Minister Stephen Harper.

It’s not just a bad tax break. It’d be a bad break for Ontarians in particular, who would pay the highest price for a discriminatory Tory ploy that could make the rich richer and the poor poorer while impoverishing the province.

After pressure from Petronas, B.C. government sets LNG tax rate at 3.5%

Two weeks after Malaysian state-owned gas giant Petronas threatened to delay its $11 billion LNG project in B.C., British Columbia announced it is cutting its proposed tax rate by half.

According to draft legislation in February, the B.C. government intended to charge a tax rate starting at 1.5 per cent and 7 per cent on net income once LNG terminals recover capital costs.

But on October 6, Petronas CEO Shamsul Azhar Abbas warned that his company could delay its Pacific Northwest LNG project if the B.C. government could not come to an agreement with industry on ways to lower costs on the project by the month's end.

Who benefits from B.C.'s LNG tax and regulatory regime?

This fall's legislative sitting will be an important one for shaping the future of LNG in B.C. Will one or more companies make final investment decisions? And if they do will there be any public benefits?

One of the key questions is whether the B.C. government will cave on its proposed 7 per cent LNG income tax rate. Industry has criticized the LNG income tax as an extra tax not applicable to other industries, but this misses the point. B.C.'s natural gas is a public or Crown resource, so, ultimately, this jockeying is about what is B.C.'s fair share of the profits. If I was to sell your car for you, because I had special infrastructure for that purpose (a used car lot), how should we split the proceeds: 50/50? 80/20? 95/5?

Tesla's Huge Tax Break Deal Is Official

CARSON CITY, Nevada, Sept 11 (Reuters) - Nevada Governor Brian Sandoval signed a package of bills on Thursday to provide $1.3 billion in tax breaks and other incentives for Tesla Motors , putting a bow on the deal for the electric car company to build a massive factory in the state.

Sandoval said the agreement has "changed the trajectory of our state forever" during the signing ceremony late on Thursday, shortly after the four bills were unanimously passed by both legislative chambers.

Tax Breaks for Tesla? States Should Think Twice

This week’s merger between Burger King and Tim Hortons, and the proposed shift of the American food icon’s headquarters to Canada, has everyone talking about the merits of corporate taxation. But something is missing from this discussion: the billions in tax breaks states lavish upon corporations to lure their operations.

You cannot talk about the corporate tax burden honestly without accounting for these subsidies.