HM Revenue & Customs (HMRC) is to launch a blitz on the buy to let sector in a bid to recover money from tens of thousands of landlords who have failed to declare rental income, made undeclared capital gains from property sales and claimed too much tax relief.
Tax officers will be given the authority to impose […]

The rising cost of housing, and the tendency for mortgage lenders to advance ever-bigger homeloans, are factors turning many younger wage earners into little more than slaves, according to a report by a panel of academics.
The report warns that the soaring cost of property in the UK means that Britain is risking becoming “a grossly divided society”, […]

With five jackpot prizes of £1m up for grabs in their 50th birthday celebrations, sales of Premium Bonds over the past six months have jumped to £6.6bn, with £2.2bn being invested in October 2006 alone.
Over half-a-million people have purchased their first Premium Bond in this period, taking the total number of Bondholders to 23.7 million. With £36bn […]

Norwich Union, the biggest insurance company in the UK, has decided it will not charge drivers convicted of minor speeding offences more for their car insurance than those with clean licences.
This follows a recent similar move by insurer Esure and broker Swinton, both of which maintain that such drivers, many of whom are only marginally […]

The UK housing market is up to 65% overvalued and needs more interest rate rises to control it, according to international economists.
The Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) said that UK property prices were among the most stretched of any major world economy.
Other UK-based analysts warned that rates could rise to 6% before the end of […]

The amount of money spent online by UK consumers increased by 33.4% to £10.9bn last year, according to retail analysts Verdict Research.
The research group said that faster and cheaper Internet access was powering the growth at a time when many High Street retailers are witnessing a decline in demand.
Of 3,000 customers surveyed, two-thirds had broadband […]

People could receive a share of recovered money if they blow the whistle on major fraud against the Government or its agencies.
The proposal forms part of a possible shake-up to the rules on seizing criminal profits and to put asset recovery at the heart of the criminal justice system. The aim is to double the money […]

Barclaycard, the largest credit card in the UK with almost 10 million customers (15% of the market), is to charge a fee to penalise customers who do not use their cards enough and to encourage them to spend more.
If it is introduced, the fee could be imposed on “low usage” customers - that is, people who only […]