Occupy Wall Street Stylists Pursue U.K. Tax Dodgers [Bloomberg]
UK Uncut has no offices and no formal leader, and key members often plot strategy over midnight pints of ale in London pubs. Yet, with more than 60,000 Twitter followers and a sprawling network of college-educated volunteers, the Occupy Wall Street-style group has helped galvanize public opposition to corporate tax avoidance. It has demonstrated inside Starbucks Corp. (SBUX) coffee shops, sued Britain’s tax collection agency over a deal with Goldman Sachs Group Inc. and shut down London’s Westminster Bridge. It plans to target this month’s summit of the Group of Eight, the world’s eight wealthiest countries. “Everywhere that’s facing austerity there’s been anger about the apparent unfairness of some companies or individuals not paying taxes,” said Alex Cobham, a research fellow at the Center for Global Development in London and the author of several studies on tax avoidance. “The difference in the U.K. is that UK Uncut crystallized it and put what people were feeling onto the front pages.”
Deloitte Denies It Was Fired by Lloyds for Complaint Mishandling [Bloomberg]
Deloitte LLP denied it was fired by Lloyds Banking Group Plc (LLOY) to run a call center handling payment protection insurance complaints because it had mishandled customers’ grievances. Britain’s biggest mortgage lender said in a statement today that the contract ended after it “became aware of issues” at the center, which processed complaints by clients who said they had been improperly sold the loan insurance. It followed a report in The Times newspaper that call center employees had been trained to discourage customers from claiming compensation. Deloitte said the termination was “unrelated” to press articles and that it had been notified of the intention to end the contract in May when the London-based bank decided to move to two from three suppliers. “We provided a high level of service throughout the period,” the accounting firm said in an e-mailed statement.
Steinbrenner Puts A Check In Win Column In Tax Victory Over IRS [Forbes]
As if George avoiding the estate tax wasn't a big enough victory on its own.
No Tax Reform Before The End Of This Decade [CG&G]
2017 at the earliest, says this guy.
What about Small Business Tax Reform? [TF]
Yes, what about small business tax reform?
Fixing 501(c)(4): Recalibrating the Tax Subsidy for Lobbying and Political Activity [David S. Miller via TaxProf]
Offering solutions?! That doesn't fit the political talking points at all!
German bank employee naps on keyboard, transfers millions [AFP]
An obviously tired German bank employee fell asleep on his keyboard and accidentally transformed a minor transfer into a 222 million euro ($293 million) order, a court heard Monday. The Hessen labour court heard that the man was supposed to transfer just 62.40 euros from a bank account belonging to a retiree, but instead "fell asleep for an instant, while pushing onto the number 2 key on the keyboard" — making it a huge 222,222,222.22 euro order. The bank discovered the mistake shortly afterwards and corrected the error.
