Conservative leader David Cameron confirmed that he would offer tax breaks for married couples if he wins the next election, the Daily Telegraph reports.
“It’s something we will definitely do in the next parliament,” Cameron said.
Shadow Chief Secretary Philip Hammond added that it’s a clear commitment for the first term of a Conservative Government. “We will introduce a recognition of marriage in the tax system,” he said.
In today’s world it’s certainly important to offer people incentives …

French constitutional court declared today that President Nicolas Sarkozy’s flagship carbon tax that was to be introduced on Friday, breaches the principle of equality in taxation.
The Constitutional Council said that Sarkozy’s scheme had so many exemptions that it “runs counter to the goal of fighting climate change and breaches the principle of equality in taxation”, The Times reports.
According to Sarkozy, the carbon tax had “one objective – to force you to change your behaviour toward fossil fuels. …

The Digital Economy Bill, which requires internet service providers (ISPs) to disconnect users who are accused of illegal filesharing, will cost consumers up to £500 million, the Daily Telegraph reports.
The Bill, which is expected to become law next year, will add £25 a year to the cost of broadband, according to ISPs. The Government’s impact assessment document, which examines the likely effects of the Bill, estimates that around 40,000 households will give up their broadband …

The Government’s controversial broadband tax has been given the green light by chancellor Alistair Darling in his pre-Budget report, the BBC reports.
The £6 a year levy will be imposed on all households with a fixed line phone. The money made will be put into a fund to ensure rural areas of the UK do not miss out on super-fast broadband services.
Darling said the Government would provide super-fast broadband to 90% of the UK by the …

Top one per cent of British earners attribute for almost a quarter of income tax in fiscal yaer 2008-2009, and top 10% pay more than half of the entire pot.
City A.M. editor Allister Heath writes that the top 10% of earners are already set to pay 53.6% of income tax in 2008-09.
The top five per cent will pay 43 per cent and the top one per cent 23.9 per cent,” he writes. “Yes, that’s right, …

The Speaker of the US House of Representatives, Californian Democrat Nancy Pelosi endorsed the idea of a “global” tax on stock trades and other financial transactions, saying the estimated $150 billion in annual revenue from such a tax could be used to help fund more stimulus spending, CNSNews.com reports.
Pelosi said that the financial transactions tax, currently before Congress, would have to be made “global” to keep US investors from taking their business overseas and out …

Fears are growing that 70,000 more Britons face paying the top rate of income tax under plans from Chancellor Alistair Darling, the Daily Mail reports.
Darling will trigger the increase by freezing personal allowances for taxpayers in his Pre-Budget Report on Wednesday, accountants say. It is also thought that the threshold for higher-rate income tax will be held at the current level.
Although ministers may justify the freeze by citing falling inflation, the plans mean those workers …

Scotland is to be handed sweeping new powers from the Government in its biggest power grab since devolution ten years ago, including powers to cut income tax, the Daily Mail reports.
Nationalist ministers will be able to set drink-drive and speed limits, air gun controls as well as controversially having an unprecedented control of taxation – including stamp duty.
Holyrood will seize a 10% share of all income tax raised in Scotland – being allowed to raise …

Business Secretary Lord Mandelson indicated that taxes will have to rise after the General Election to help pay off the national debt and finance new care plans for the elderly, the Daily Telegraph reports.
Prime Minister Gordon Brown has been careful not to risk a backlash by stating that new tax rises are inevitable – something many commentators believe is necessary if Britain is to start putting the country’s finances back in order, but Lord Mandelson …

Air travellers are to be hit by massive price increases from next week, with long-haul holiday destinations being hardest hit, because from 1st November the Government are increasing air passenger duty on flights, the Daily Mail reports.
A family of four going to South Africa, Kenya or Thailand will have to pay an additional £200 on the price of their tickets.
Air Passenger Duty (APD) was officially introduced as a green measure to reflect the cost of …

The value added tax (VAT) will go back up to 17.5 per cent on 31st December, Tory Politico reports.
According to the blog, the Financial Secretary to the Treasury, Stephen Timms said that it “will be confirmed in the pre-budget report in a few weeks time”.
Chancellor Alistair Darling said in July that VAT will go back to its original level by the New Year. Darling insisted at a private meeting with business leaders that there was …

Cash-strapped Central and Eastern European governments are turning to a time-tested strategy of raising taxes on cigarettes and alcohol as the recession takes its toll on the region’s public finances, the Wall Street Journal reports.
Slovakia has formulated a so-called bottle-cap amendment aimed at stemming tax evasion by bar owners who sell bootleg liquor; Hungary is considering a new tax on poker.
Poland is set to lift its excise tax on cigarettes by 2.6% to 228.80 zlotys …

Government officials have drawn up secret plans to tax electricity consumers to subsidise the construction of the UK’s first new nuclear reactors for more than 20 years, the Guardian reports.
The planned levy on household bills would add £44 to an annual electricity bill of £500 and contradicts repeated promises by ministers that the nuclear industry would no longer benefit from public subsidies. There is mounting pressure on the power industry to show they can keep …

The Government’s Committee on “Climate Change” advise that motorists should pay higher taxes in the form of a national road-pricing system to cut carbon dioxide emissions, The Times reports.
The speed limit on all motorways should be strictly enforced and may have to be reduced to 60mph to help to meet the Government’s legally binding carbon reduction targets.
The Committee on Climate Change, which devised the targets and advises the Government on how to meet them, say …

According to the Government’s advisory body on “climate change”, tens of billions of pounds will have to be raised through flight taxes to compensate developing countries for the damage air travel does to the environment, The Times reports.
Ticket prices should rise steadily over time to deter air travel and ensure that carbon dioxide emissions from aviation fall back to 2005 levels, the Committee on Climate Change say. They believe that airlines should be forced to …

A two pence rise in fuel duty will come into effect from midnight, the third increase in nine months; when VAT is included, the increase will actually total 2.3p, the BBC reports.
The average price of petrol across the UK is about 105p per litre.
The government say the extra duty is needed to help fund public investment.
The Petrol Retailers Association pointed out that the price of fuel would increase again when VAT increases from 15% to …