At least 103,000 small business owners and self-employed people in the UK have marked their dissent to a Government plan to make them file tax returns four times every year.
The signatures on the Government’s online petition have surpassed the 100,000 required for Parliament to have to debate the matter.
There are 218 individual taxpayers with debts to the taxman of over €1 million each but the total is down on last year’s by 18 people.
The list of all tax debtors shows 28,000 people with debts of more than €7,500 each as the State machine relentlessly rolls on in trying to collect debts, many of which clearly are never going to be paid.
The gargantuan mounds of plastic polluting the seas could be solved if a pilot project is successful.
A Dutch entrepreneur, Boyan Slat, who is all of 21, is set to start a pilot device off southern Japan which hopes to gather some of the millions of tonnes of plastic in the world’s oceans.
Bank rescues such as Banif and BES caused losses for shareholders and bondholders, but who now must pay the bill when the next bank goes bust?
As of January 1st this year, investors and depositors of large amounts may well be part of any future bank rescue.
Think back to a quieter time when there were few motorways, many places in Portugal had neither water, electricity nor sewers and the country was still engaged in farming and fishing.
It was 30 years ago on January 1st that Portugal officially joined the then European Economic Community.
Italians have been turning up their noses at the country’s traditional Mediterranean diet and opting instead for red meat, butter and dairy products.
Only 43% of the population is believed to stick with the traditional diet rich in seasonal vegetables, fruit, olive oil, pulses and seafood.
France has taken another step in its war against food waste by introducing legislation forcing restaurants to offer doggy bags to diners.
The new law came into force on 1 January and applies to restaurants which sell more than 180 meals a day.
During the period designated as Operation New Year, Portugal’s road police services have registered five dead and 17 seriously injured in 499 road traffic accidents to lunchtime on Sunday.
A further 141 people have been injured making the casualty rate higher than last year despite a huge police presence on the roads over the holiday period.
