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Child tax credit
Readers who employ nannies may have read in a recent issue of a national newspaper with incredulity that child tax credits of up to £140 a week would be paid to all working parents earning up to £50,000 a year, thereby making it available to employers of nannies.
Child tax credit
Readers who employ nannies may have read in a recent issue of a national newspaper with incredulity that child tax credits of up to £140 a week would be paid to all working parents earning up to £50,000 a year, thereby making it available to employers of nannies.
This, however, is not strictly the case. A Treasury press office spokesman said that the tax credit was categorically not going to be available to nanny employers. Instead, the credit is to be extended from April 2003 so that working parents who employ a registered childcarer in the parents' home, as opposed to the childcarer's home, will be eligible to claim the credit. The key is that the childcarer must be registered, e.g., a registered childminder. Trained nannies will have completed a childcare course, often up to two years long, and have various certificates to prove this, but will also have to register separately, take a first aid course, and undergo the relevant police checks, to enable the parents to apply for the tax credit.
Gibraltar tax reforms
The European Commission has launched a formal state aid investigation into the planned reform of Gibraltar's company taxation laws. This is the first time that an entire corporate tax system has been notified to the Commission for approval under the state aid rules.
The United Kingdom proposals aim to reform the taxation of company profits in Gibraltar. They would replace the existing legislation on so-called exempt and qualifying companies that forms the basis of Gibraltar's offshore sector and on which the Commission started formal proceedings in July 2001.
Under the new scheme, companies would instead be subject to an annual payroll tax of £3,000 per employee and a business property occupation tax.
The total liability for tax would be capped at 15 per cent of profits or £500,000, whichever was the lower. If a company made no profit, it would have no tax liability. In addition to the payroll and property taxes, financial services companies would be charged a top-up tax at a rate of eight per cent of profits from financial service activities. Total taxation of financial services companies would also be capped at 15 per cent of profit or £500,000. Utility companies would be taxed at a flat rate of 35 per cent of profits.
The reasons for opening the state aid investigations include doubts about the impact of the 15 per cent and £500,000 caps, and the advantage conferred on Gibraltar companies when compared with those operating in the United Kingdom.
(Source: European Community press release IP/02/1484.)
Film share issue
Capitalising on the proven earning power of big screen adaptations of comic book heroes such as Batman, X-Men and Spiderman, United Kingdom based 2000 AD Films plc is to exploit the feature film potential of Britain's longest running cult sci-fi comic series from which the company takes its name.
Home of such characters as Judge Dredd, Strontium Dog and Rogue Trooper, 2000 AD magazine has produced thrill-powered comic entertainment for over 25 years.
2000 AD Films plc has been set up to develop and produce live action films based on a selection of the magazine's legendary characters and stories. The company has announced a public share offer using the enterprise investment scheme via the 2000 AD website, www.2000adonline.com. The aim is to raise initial funds of £2.5 million to enable the company to commission a number of screenplays based on characters and stories from the comic leading into production of United Kingdom feature films. It intends to develop up to six projects in its initial term.
For further information contact Phil Symes, Cowan Symes & Associates, tel: 020 7323 1200, e-mail: philsymes.cs@virgin.net, or Daniel Figuero, 2000 AD Films plc, Pinewood Studios, tel: 01753 651700, e-mail: df@2000adfilms.com.
