New blog post: UK: HMT Patent Box slides published – http://t.co/ntoEEIqX #in
12
Jan 12
UK: HMT Patent Box slides published
HM Treasury have published the slides from their latest presentation on the patent box – nothing particularly startling in them. I’m working on a podcast on the patent box at the moment, but it’s taking second-place to finishing the update to the Taxation of Intellectual Property book for Bloomsbury!
06
Jan 12
http://t.co/gSzSipVy – costs o…
http://t.co/gSzSipVy – costs of defamation proceedings tax deductible as protecting intangible asset (business reputation) on facts
04
Jan 12
Luxembourg cut VAT on ebooks t…
Luxembourg cut VAT on ebooks to 3% – http://t.co/PSpnGfSO (FT, subscription). Useful for the next 3 years …
21
Dec 11
Snow is falling, lights are tw…
Snow is falling, lights are twinkling. The computer decorations are up again.
20
Dec 11
Australia: advance rulings on …
Australia: advance rulings on eligibility for R&D tax incentives (looks a bit like the HMRC pilot that just closed) – http://t.co/cfUquwPV
15
Dec 11
From @tax_journal – http://t.c…
From @tax_journal – http://t.co/D7ZRSuMs – good news on demand for R&D pilot, nice to see my skepticism on take-up was unfounded!
07
Dec 11
UK: patent box – the least you need to know*
- The proposals have been pretty much reworked in some detail into the draft legislation
- The reduction in the presumed routine profit from 15% of specific expenses to 10% of general overheads means this is less mad than it was, although it’s still pretty silly for patent licensing businesses such as biotechs
- The separation out of the active management requirement is welcome, as it means biotechs etc that licence out their R&D results can still qualify
- A bonus for small companies is that the relief calculation uses the main CT rate so they get a bit more relief than they would if the small co’s rate was used in the calculation
- The doubling of the de minimis to £1m before complex paperwork has to be submitted is useful
- BUT: it’s still unlikely to appeal to anyone much other than the multinational pharmaceutical companies, despite the changes. And still does absolutely nothing for any other substantive form of IP.
* well, the least it seems on first reading that one might want to know …
29
Nov 11
OT: for amusement (or possibly despair)
From the autumn statement:
First
- Italy’s interest rates are now 7.2% … And what are ours? … They are less than 2.5%
- Yesterday, we were even borrowing money more cheaply than Germany
- Italy’s rates have gone up by almost 3% in the last year alone
- we will increase the State Pension Age from 66 to 67 … Germany [has] taken similar steps
- extending support to British mid-caps who can sometimes lack the overseas ambition of their German equivalents
and then …
- It’s no good endlessly comparing ourselves with other European countries
PS: Fair enough, I took that last one a little out of context … but nevertheless, comparison when it suits, refusal to compare when it doesn’t. Can’t say I’m over-excited by the proposed employment law changes.