World Business Briefing | Europe: Britain: Interest Rate Unchanged The Bank of England held its benchmark interest rate steady at 5.25 percent for a third consecutive month. The bank has raised rates three times in the last year, and the pause was largely expected, b... Read Full Article Bush Cites Nuclear Risk Of Leaving Iraq President Bush said that an American withdrawal from Iraq would unsettle the entire Middle East, create a haven for Al Qaeda and embolden a belligerent Iran.... Read Full Article Cuomo, Investigating Medicaid Fraud, Issues Subpoenas To 59 Home Care Agencies The New York state attorney general said Monday that preliminary evidence suggested that the home aide industry was rife with fraud.... Read Full Article China Not Sole Source Of Dubious Food Federal records suggest that China is not the only country that has problems with its exports.... Read Full Article How Smaller College Endowments Still Reap Big Returns Some colleges and universities with modest financial assets have managed to earn returns higher than their deep-pocketed rivals.... Read Full Article |
Parity NewsInsure Me, Please: The Murky Politics of Mind-BodyMental health insurance parity raises all sorts of tricky questions. Is an ailment a legitimate disease if you can?t test for it?Read Full Article Petrol price rises and penalties for gas-guzzlers as Chancellor Alistair Darling goes greenAlistair Darling will increase petrol duty and impose swingeing penalties on high-emission cars this week in what ministers will call “the green Budget”.<br/> <br/> He will give tax incentives to companies that opt for greener vehicle fleets. And in a further move to show his green credentials Mr Darling will announce that Britain’s first five-year carbon budget, setting out the way independent experts believe that the country should meet the target of reducing emissions by 60 per cent by 2050, will be published next year alongside the main Budget.<br/> <br/> The move is designed to show that meeting climate change objectives is now at the heart of the Government’s economic policy.<br/> <br/> Mr Darling will try to repair his damaged relations with the City with concessions over his plans to tax non-domiciles, including a deal with Washington that will mean thousands of American bankers and businesmen working in Britain can set their annual £30,000 charge against their US tax bills. He will also change the rules relating to non-residents qualifying to pay tax, freeing thousands from the British tax net.<br/> <br/> The Chancellor is is also expected to use his legal powers to prevent pay-as-you-go gas and electricity customers being unfairly treated by energy companies, compared with those who pay by direct debit. The disparity, where poorest customers are charged up to £330 a year more than internet customers, was revealed by <i>The Times</i> on Thursday.<br/> <br/> The Budget will also highlight measures to tackle child poverty as Mr Darling responds to growing Cabinet calls for him to do more to more to enable Labour to meet its target of halving child poverty by 2010. There will be changes to the tax credit system to help working families.<br/> <br/> The Chancellor is set to announce a shake-up of car taxation, with people buying the most polluting vehicles heavily penalised and those who go for green alternatives paying less tax. Buyers of “gas-guzzlers” in car tax Band G will be confronted with a first-year charge of more than £1,000 in vehicle excise tax, before it reverts to the current level of £400. Mr Darling will also increase the number of bands from the current seven. Drivers in the lower bands will pay less tax than at present. The higher the emissions, the higher the first year excise duty.<br/> <br/> One of his most controversial moves will be to go ahead with the 2p-a-litre rise in the price of petrol that was announced last year. Motoring organisations have been calling on him to defer it because of the present high prices. But to do so would leave him short of much needed revenue and go against the grain of his emphasis on environmental measures.<br/> <br/> As <i>The Times</i> disclosed on Saturday implementation of many of the tax increases, including those on cars, will be delayed for a year. But he will raise duties on alcohol, ending the ten-year freeze on spirits duty.<br/> <br/> Mr Darling needs to show the markets that, over time, he will act to bring down borrowing, but he does not want to tighten the economy at a time when it is expected to slow down. He will revise his growth forecast down by a quarter of a percentage point to 1.75 per cent on Wednesday.<br/> <br/> Mr Darling’s moves on non-doms will be welcomed in the City, even though he is refusing to back down over introducing the new charge. He will say that he is confident that an agreement with the US will ensure that the £30,000 charge on Americans working in Britain does not amount to double taxation.<br/> <br/> American citizens are taxed on their worldwide income. The changes to rules for non-residents will also be welcomed by those who commute to London. Originally the plan was for days spent travelling to and from Britain to count towards the limit of 183 days a year to qualify as non resident. Now it will be based on overnight stays.<br/> <br/> George Osborne, the Shadow Chancellor, called for corporation tax to be curbed to help to revive the economy. He said that the main rate should be cut from 28p to 25p and a planned increase in the small companies rate from 20p to 22p abandoned. Mr Osborne said that Britain currently had “one of the most uncompetitive corporate tax rates in the world”.<br/> <br/> The Institute for Public Policy Research, the left-leaning think-tank, said that this Budget was the Government’s “last chance” to take the steps needed to meet its goal on child poverty. It urged Mr Darling to increase working tax credit for couples to £91.31 a week, introduce a personal tax credit allowance so that each adult in eligible families would be able to earn £100 a week before losing credits and raise the child element of child tax credit by £8 a week.Read Full Article House Approves Bill on Mental Health ParityAfter more than a decade of struggle, the House passed a bill requiring most group health plans to provide more generous coverage for treatment of mental illnesses.Read Full Article In Japan, Rural Economies Wane as Cities ThriveSince the 1990s, a growing economic disparity has emerged between prosperous cities and depressed rural areas.Read Full Article Buffett Says No Estate Tax Would Be a Gift to the RichWarren E. Buffett told Congress that plans to repeal the estate tax would benefit a handful of the richest American families and widen income disparity in the United States.Read Full Article External News for: parityPotty Parity Proves Washington's Not Stalled, by Andrew Belonsky - Women on the WebWashington PostPotty Parity Proves Washington's Not Stalled, by Andrew BelonskyWomen on the WebPotty parity, naturally! The new stipulation would also apply to buildings leased by the government. Though certainly a welcome step for women, ...'Potty Parity Act' seeks restroom equality in federal buildingsWashington Post'Potty Parity' seeks equality of toilets for women in federal buildingsUSA TodayLawmakers Introduce "Potty Parity Act"CBS NewsNewser -ABC News -eNews Park Forestall 17 news articles »Potty Parity Proves Washington's Not Stalled, by Andrew Belonsky - Women on the WebWashington PostPotty Parity Proves Washington's Not Stalled, by Andrew BelonskyWomen on the WebPotty parity, naturally! The new stipulation would also apply to buildings leased by the government. Though certainly a welcome step for women, ...'Potty Parity Act' seeks restroom equality in federal buildingsWashington Post'Potty Parity' seeks equality of toilets for women in federal buildingsUSA TodayLawmakers Introduce "Potty Parity Act"CBS NewsNewser -ABC News -eNews Park Forestall 17 news articles »Dodge Says Canada More Prepared for Dollar at Parity - BusinessWeekReutersDodge Says Canada More Prepared for Dollar at ParityBusinessWeekMarch 18 (Bloomberg) -- Canadians are more prepared for their currency to reach parity with the US than they were a few years ago, ...Canada's loonie inches toward parity with the US dollarSeattle TimesCanadian Dollar Tiptoeing Towards US Dollar ParityWall Street Journal (blog)Canada Afternoon: C$ Hits 20-Month High, Eyes Parity With USDWall Street JournalReuters -Toronto Sun -AHN | All Headline Newsall 614 news articles »Potty Parity Proves Washington's Not Stalled, by Andrew Belonsky - Women on the WebWashington PostPotty Parity Proves Washington's Not Stalled, by Andrew BelonskyWomen on the WebPotty parity, naturally! The new stipulation would also apply to buildings leased by the government. Though certainly a welcome step for women, ...'Potty Parity Act' seeks restroom equality in federal buildingsWashington Post'Potty Parity' seeks equality of toilets for women in federal buildingsUSA TodayLawmakers Introduce "Potty Parity Act"CBS NewsNewser -ABC News -eNews Park Forestall 17 news articles »Dodge Says Canada More Prepared for Dollar at Parity - BusinessWeekReutersDodge Says Canada More Prepared for Dollar at ParityBusinessWeekMarch 18 (Bloomberg) -- Canadians are more prepared for their currency to reach parity with the US than they were a few years ago, ...Canada's loonie inches toward parity with the US dollarSeattle TimesCanadian Dollar Tiptoeing Towards US Dollar ParityWall Street Journal (blog)Canada Afternoon: C$ Hits 20-Month High, Eyes Parity With USDWall Street JournalReuters -Toronto Sun -AHN | All Headline Newsall 614 news articles »Canadian Dollar Targets Parity on Inflation, Higher Rate Bets - BusinessWeekGlobe and MailCanadian Dollar Targets Parity on Inflation, Higher Rate BetsBusinessWeekMarch 19 (Bloomberg) -- The Canadian currency came the closest to parity with its US counterpart in almost 20 months ...Rising loonie flirts with parityNanaimo News BulletinCPI surprise could lift loonie to parityNational PostUSD/CAD Heads Toward Parity, Supported by CPI DataBenzingaBloomberg -CityNews -Canada.comall 357 news articles » |
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