Employment vacancy

We have a vacancy for an International Tax Accountant to assist us primarily with the preparation and control of foreign tax returns and payroll processing, along with many other activities.

The full details of the vacancy are on our website, and applicants will want to look at www.norway-tax.co.uk and www.dutch-tax.co.uk for an appreciation of what we are doing.

This is an exciting and rapidly growing aspect of our business, and we are seeking an appointee who can meet our needs.

Salmon exports to China

Whilst it is undoubtedly Good News that salmon exports to China are growing, the real reasons behind the growth are much less savoury.

These reasons bear some consideration, and the implications for Scotland are much less obvious and savoury than we might like.


It is not that Scotland has succeeded, but more that Norway has been punished.  Norway, you may recall, is held up as a model that Scotland should try to emulate.

So what did Norway do?

Well, the Norwegians had the temerity to award the Nobel Peace Prize to Chinese dissident, Liu Xiaobo, a move that the Chinese Government didn't like in the slightest.

The end result was a vast hike in import taxes, increased import controls, and a serious attempt at economic payback against a country that only hosts - not awards - the Nobel Institute.

I for one am concerned that Scotland is so happy to be seen to benefit from a superpower trying to gag opponents, and that we are allowing/encouraging the Chinese Government to repeat this effort should anyone else try to raise issues about human rights, executions or economic jiggery-pokery.

Alex Salmond has effectively allowed himself to be boxed into a corner, whereby condemning the abuses of the population in China or Tibet will be met by threats of economic sanctions.

It was not edifying to see Tony Blair cosy up to Gadaffi.  This is no different, and sells the moral high ground to the Chinese; a position we should try to occupy beside the Norwegians.

Tax avoidance and tax reduction

Jim McColl, boss of Clyde Blowers, was extensively quoted by the Scottish Government in the
proposal vacuous nonsense that passed for a policy paper on Scottish Corporation Tax.


The STUC rather entertainingly take the paper apart for it's generalities and false citations of the output of right wing American think tanks being described as by "The World Bank".

Mr McColl is on the radio tomorrow am defending his position; which I think needs more examination.

a Scottish business leader

Mr McColl lives in Monaco, making McColl a Monegasque businessman who owns a Scottish business.

Mr McColl - who is one of Scotland's richest men - also hit out at critics who have described him as a tax exile over his decision to base himself in Monaco. 

The Clyde Blowers chief, whose personal worth has been estimated by the Sunday Times Rich List at £570m, said: "For a start I think 'tax exile' is an emotive phrase - I don't think it is a fair phrase to use. 

 Is the phrase "legal tax dodger" less emotive?  His choice of residence means that he pays no personal income tax on the dividends he receives from the company, and were he to sell the company then he would pay no capital gains tax in the UK or in Monaco.  (See also Philip Green and Lord Ashcroft [Belize])

But I would say about most of the people who criticise this - I probably contribute more to the economic benefit of the UK and Scotland in a year than they do in a lifetime

I think he might find that his employees contribute more to the economy, albeit under his guidance, but the difference is that his employees have no option but to pay all their taxes in the UK; whilst he can swan off and avoid contributing his fair share to schools and hospitals.

"So, I am very focused on investing in Scotland and passionate about Scotland."

If that's really the case then he can set an example and confirm that if Scotland ever got control over it's own tax system, then he will tax up tax residence in Scotland and pay taxes on all his worldwide income in Scotland.

The Scottish Government meantime, could promise to crack down on this kind of tax dodge.  Compare the situation to Stagecoach this week, where Souter is UK resident and pays full UK taxes on his obscene income.

You see, McColl's position is based solely on one simple five letter word - G-R-E-E-D.  Reduce my tax bill, and I'll earn more tax-free; far, far away.

Robertson Road

Gibson Gardens, I am told, rather than Dead Dog Drive.

Tax Returns

And who says accountancy is dull....  This option popped up by default on a Norwegian Tax Return I'm doing.

There's also a box to tick if you owned a power station during the year -you get extra allowances.

Mugshot of the Day

The Sheriff in Maricopa County takes a rather robust approach to law enforcement, and his past record includes making convicts wear pink underwear and listen to classical music in an effort to reduce the recidivism rate.

And have a look at the talented bunch of arrestees that he has to work with.

The website may very well say that they are all innocent until proven guilty, but there are some in the line up that you just can't help have a gut feeling about.

Installing new software.....

And I was given the following choices....

Presumably the welcome screen invites to you "Have a Guinness while you are waiting for the program to load".

Libya

It is deeply, deeply, reassuring to know that the Scottish Government is ready to help Scots trapped in the Libyan crisis.

I didn't realise that we still had any Libyan prisoners left to give away trade.

Perhaps Salmond plans to send a CalMac ferry to rescue those trapped.  A minimum RET charge will apply, at a rate of £100 per mile plus £40 per foot of luggage.  Assuming the Muirneag can manage to pass the Arnish lighthouse by July, without turning back.

Rumour has it that retired helicopter winchman, Chris Murray, has been recruited by a crack team of the SSAS (Scottish SAS) under the direction of the First Minister to fly in supplies to trapped Scots.  He will be dropping haggis, Barley's marags, guga casserole and Irn Bru from a black ops helicopter.  The supplies have been chosen to stop the *nglish trying to steal the supplies, although rogue Welsh elements have threatened to eat Chris and the helicopter.

Practice runs are taking place over the Saharan dunes at Luskentyre as we speak...

Council cuts

One area not affect by the looming cuts is the Twinning Budget. 

I understand that despite a failure of the Councillors to agree or approve the use of the funds, the default option prevails and budget for visits to South Carolina and Ireland remain untouched.

Eqypt

BBC News are reporting that the Egyptian Army will not shoot demonstrators, which signals the end of the regime.

As one of our "strongest allies", it has cut communication such as mobile phones and the internet, and imprisoned journalists to stop the facts being made available to the public.

"By your friends shall you know them".  So the sooner we see the end of "our" "friendly" dictatorships the better.

How the Faroese do it...

The ridiculous suggestion by our MP of "petrol tourism" to the Faroe Islands by hard-pressed locals, actually serves only to undermine the argument that he is trying to make.

The reason that petrol is so cheap in the Faroe Islands is very simple, and it is not that they control their own taxation affairs as he blurted out in the House of Commons.

The reasons are that the Faroe Islands are not part of the EU, and they receive a huge subsidy from the Danish Crown.

Part of that subsidy is that the islands are classed as a duty-free area (like the Canaries).  In the Western Isles, that would reduce prices to about 60p per litre compared to the errrr 94p in the Faroe Islands that Mr MacNeil praises.

I assume that Mr MacNeil is not meaning to argue that dependency status and a continuing and permanent subsidy from the Crown is the answer, but his logic does seem quite muddled.

He does, perhaps unwittingly, fully endorse my view that we should be arguing for a duty-free area in the islands as the way forward, as he highlights the impact of that status, compared to 5p from a duty regulator. 

Simpler, easier to implement and control, and has a massive impact. So why the reticence?

International post

This week has seen the office receive:

• Half a dozen letters in Dutch from their tax authorities - easy to deal with
• A veritable stream of correspondence from the Norwegian Revenue, with which we are very familiar
• A letter in Inuit (and Danish) from the Nuuk tax office, sent to a client - a demand for taxes that another firm of accountants should have dealt with
• Some beautiful promotional calendars and diaries from a client, in Azeri, showing views of old Baku and the industrial oilfield landscape in the early 1900's.  

 What will next week bring?

Sino-Scottish relations

Am I the only person who has misgivings about the warm welcome we are giving to Chinese companies acquiring our technologies and our businesses?

China is, after all, a dictatorship where people are imprisoned without trial for their religious and political beliefs.

Never forget...

A country where the free dissemination of information is prevented by a network of secret police.

A country where the biggest companies are run by the military; which is the state.

A country where the general population have limited or no rights to land, property or legal protection.

Are we just bolstering the system?

I don't see anything to suggest otherwise, and it looks like the highest bidder is being welcomed with open arms, irrespective...

Back to reality

This is probably the longest break that I have had from blogging for a few years, and it has been quite refreshing, probably as we have been away.

It's been a working holiday - with Sue having meetings, meetings and meetings relating to her business interests in the US, whilst I've done the holiday part of it.  Well, not quite, as we were both doing loads of other work whilst away, so it really wasn't a compeltely quiet time.

We also took my parents and sister away, which I think they enjoyed, and it was good to be a bit distant from the islands for a few weeks, just to give oneself a more objective view.

The grass is not always greener....

A break

Giving everything else that is happening in the community at the present time, I don't intend to blog for a couple of days.

A common language

With all the talk about public sector spending cuts, it is utterly apposite that whilst working on some Dutch tax affairs for a client, Google Translate gave me the following:

Dutch            English
overheid         Government

Basqueing in reflected glory

Sorry for the pun, but one should never be too serious about something that is obviously in desperate need of a good burst of satire and general fun-poking.

Not that long ago Scotland was a 'Celtic Tiger' standing proudly alongside Eire and looking admiringly at it's economic success.  'That could be us' was the cry.  If only we were like Eire and had control over our own economic affairs, then as a member of the EU we would enjoy the sort of boom that they are having.  Look at all the wealth and the financial services they are developing.

Then came the bust, and Eire found that as a member of the Eurozone it couldn't do anything to stop its economy imploding, and budget cuts were the only option available to them. A bit like Scotland really, as prescribed by Westminster, and for many of the same reasons.  With interest rates at record lows, cutting budgets is the only tool available.

But like MacCavity, the SNP MSPs weren't there.  They had already abandoned the belief in the Celtic Tiger, and moved onto ideologies new.

The Arc of Prosperity was the new buzz.  Like Iceland and Norway, we were outside the Eurozone and so free from those risks, and as proud independent nations we could follow their example and control our own finances in a way that was only possible by small independent countries.

At least that was the model we were being urged to follow until the Icelandic banks went belly-up closely followed by the Scottish ones: when suddenly the emphasis was changed.

Today we are being urged to look at Spain.  And this is where I feel that the search for role models really demonstrates an underlying change in the SNP policy, not for a cultural reason, but for economic and intensely party politcal reasons.

Until recently - and just when did this stop being the case - Catalonia was being held up as the model for the new Scotland.  I remember countless MSPs and MEPs extolling the virtues of the Catalan struggle for economic and political independence from Spain.  The ties were the language struggle - now rejected by the majority - and the grinding of the economy under the heel of the evil Spanish empire.

The similarities were all to apparent, and no-one need to draw out the implications for the common interests between the two.  Remember the  campaigns to have both Catalan and Gaelic as official EU languages.

But now we are being pointed at the Basque country, and it is here that the political change can be seen.

The Basques are content to operate as a semi-autonomous state inside Spain, and the economy has boomed as they have ruthlessly exploited thier opportunities to build a thriving economy.  Independence is muttered about, but is not a serious political topic, as everything is rosy in the garden.  If Catalonia is (was?) Scotland, then the Basque region is more like Cornwall.

Is this really the model that the SNP are holding out for its supporters?

Coming so soon after the abandonment of the Independence referendum and its transparent sidelining as a major issue for the SNP (at least at present) are we going to be faced with the two major parties at the next Holyrood elections both fighting for the flavour of devolution that suits them best?

It looks that way, whatever noises the SNP may make about Independence remaining the/an objective.

Work, work, work

I spent Monday and today helping LiveHebrides with their courses on online accounting, which was actually more about accounting options for new and growing businesses, in Stornoway and then Uist.

It's been great fun, but the work has been piling up behind the scenes, and here I am dealing with email and business matters at 11pm because everyone else has to carry the workload whilst I am out of the office.

I don't grudge the time in the slightest, as you need to find out what people really want as opposed to what you think they really want, and to have people challenge you on your perceptions.

I spoke about how the internet can fundamentally change the way you do business, and how there are no barriers, and how it can allow you to find customers that you didn't know existed.

And as if proof was needed, we have just secured a contract with a multi-billion pound Asian Government company all due to the service we provided to the FD in his previous employment with one of our clients. They don't care where we are, just that we are more reliable, trustworthy and professional than the global firm they were with before. Oh, and we don't have to recharge outrageous overhead office costs.

The world - my friends - is our oyster, if we can only ensure that the technology needs and the transportation costs are sorted.

Lockerbie 'bomber' - not dead yet.

The sound of politicians scurrying away from their decisions is becoming tiring.

When Labour were in Government - remember then? - they took a rather schitzophrenic approach to the decision.

On one hand, they were glad to palm off the decision to anyone else, knowing the shitstorm it would stir up; whilst on the other, they were relucatant to cede any powerrs or give any type of credence to the Scottish Government.

The Scottish Government played the humanitarian card, at the time, and tried to claim the moral high ground, but the refusal of al-Megrahi to stick to his end of the bargain and shuffle off this mortal coil at a speedy rate has caused there to be renewed political fallout.

And you can understand why, even if you don't agree with any of it.

No-one seems prepared to justify their actions, all blaming each other, and allowing the Americans to seek vengeance in the name of justice and to make the decision entirlely political again.

Which is where it started, if you read the statements from Holyrood and Westminster carefully, with each blaming the other for making shady deals.

The truth will out, eventually, but in the meantime there is a hugely unedifying spectacle of everyone distancing themselves from any responsibility, whilst getting a kicking by the Americans.

As an aside, I understand that like every other prisoner released early, Mr al-Megrahi must report to a supervising Social Worker. I'm told he doesn't abide by these terms, but having been sent from the country by the Government, the Government now find itself unable to enforce any of the terms and conditions they set for parole.

All in all an utterly shambolic and disgraceful episode that fails to shed light on the key issues; and one that runs the risk of perpetrating the fog of cover-up and conspiracy, rather than helping to resolve them.

Football

The Spaniards know how to celebrate without needing to have chip supper and a fight....