United Kingdom Archives - IREF Europe

UK Corporate Tax: From 26% to 20% In 2016

IREF — Sat, 09 Nov 2013 15:23:00 +0000

As shown in the Report of the IREF on Taxation in Europe, many countries have lowered their corporate tax. The UK is among them. The corporate tax will gradually decrease: 23% in 2013/14, 21% in 2014/15 and 20% in 2015/16.
It must be an example for countries as France…

The post UK Corporate Tax: From 26% to 20% In 2016 appeared first on IREF Europe.

In France the legislative process is hijacked by those who depend on public money

Nicolas Lecaussin — Thu, 31 Jan 2013 11:02:12 +0000

Between 3 and 5 per cent of the members of Parliament, and 6 per cent of the senators: the parliamentarians with a background in business represent a tiny minority. An IREF study shows the contrast with four other countries where economic legislation is handled by people who know what it means. In France, the elected representatives are chiefly interested in tax money.

The post In France the legislative process is hijacked by those who depend on public money appeared first on IREF Europe.

Lessons from a successful think tank

Jacob Arfwedson — Tue, 20 Nov 2012 17:40:40 +0000

The founder of the Adam Smith Institute, Dr. Madsen Pirie, visited IREF on Thursday 15 November to present his book Think Tank: The Story of the Adam Smith Institute (Biteback Publishing, 2012)

After discussing the specificity of the think tank as an independent influence on policy, and the nuts and bolts of policy-making during Thatcherism in the UK, Madsen Pirie offered the following conclusion.

The post Lessons from a successful think tank appeared first on IREF Europe.

Phoney fiscal austerity in the United Kingdom

IREF — Mon, 27 Sep 2010 16:02:32 +0000

2009/2010 has been a period of phoney fiscalism in the United Kingdom. The period is sandwiched between the economic crisis, which put fiscal policy onto an emergency, macro-economic footing and an election (May 6th 2010). Economic crisis has been marked in the UK as in most other countries by a severe worsening of the fiscal balance which has been supported for now by government borrowing and straightforward money-creation (“quantitative easing”). The political constraint of election has led to a more than usually cosmetic approach to changes in the structure of taxation.

The post Phoney fiscal austerity in the United Kingdom appeared first on IREF Europe.

The British Tax System: Opposing Trends

IREF — Sat, 06 Dec 2003 12:43:02 +0000

Abstract: This article points to the highly centralized nature of the British tax system. A first section shows how all tax law derives from Parliament, the “onlie begetter” of legally enforceable instruments. It is suggested that this system is not democratically accountable at sub-national levels of government. Reforms of the Thatcher era have resulted in the privatization of many public services, leading to the stabilization of State expenditure as a proportion of GDP.

The post The British Tax System: Opposing Trends appeared first on IREF Europe.