All posts tagged: taxpayers

Cabinet Minister Warns Of “Lifelong Cost” To Taxpayers If Youth Employment Isn’t Addressed

Cabinet Minister Warns Of “Lifelong Cost” To Taxpayers If Youth Employment Isn’t Addressed

Published by Sam

(Alamy) 3 min read26 September A cabinet minister has said failing to get young people into work could result in a “lifelong cost” for “them and for the taxpayer”, as the Government announced its plans for a new youth guarantee. Liz Kendall, Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, spoke to PoliticsHome on a visit to Anfield prior to her speech at Labour Party conference.  On Wednesday she was part of an event for young people in Liverpool’s stadum, where she gave more details about how the Government will implement its youth guarantee alongside business and charities to improve youth employment and education. Government data has found that more than one in eight young people are not in education, employment or training. Statistics from the House of Commons found the unemployment rate for those between 16-24 years old rose from 13 per cent in 2023 to 14.2 per cent in 2024. In an interview with PoliticsHome, Kendall warned of the cost to the British state and taxpayer if the government could not improve youth employment, …

The Greek government will once again waste taxpayers’ money on a medieval scam.

The Greek government will once again waste taxpayers’ money on a medieval scam.

Published by Sam

(Article in Greek below / Το άρθρο στα Ελληνικά ακολουθεί) The Greek government will once again waste taxpayers’ money on a medieval scam. According to recent publications, the Greek government will send a government plane to Jerusalem taking additional security measures. Is this planned in terms of some diplomatic effort to stop the genocide in Gaza? Maybe for humanitarian aid?No, this is to transfer the so-called ‘holy’ fire to Greece. At the same time, in ᾽Τransparency᾽ (website for publicity of government policy and administrative activity), municipalities are identified to be preparing to spend public money for its reception e.g.: Hydra municipality, Leros municipality.Only god knows (pun intended) how much more will be spent in carrying this lantern without been published in ᾽Τransparency᾽. All this in a bankrupt and impoverished country (again according to a recent report by the Financial Times). The ‘holy’ fire (or ‘holy’ light in Greek) is medieval trickery invented by Western Christian monks (Catholic) and then used by the Eastern ones (Orthodox) to whom the exploitation of the so-called ‘holy’ lands had …

Senator Tells Taxpayers On Gaza Pier: “Cost Has Not Just Risen, It Has Exploded”

Senator Tells Taxpayers On Gaza Pier: “Cost Has Not Just Risen, It Has Exploded”

Published by skeptic

An initial US Navy ship has reached Eastern Mediterranean waters off the coast of the Gaza Strip where its crew has begun constructing a floating platform for the ambitious Gaza humanitarian pier project ordered by President Biden, new satellite images published by Planet Labs show. USNS Roy P. Benavidez is now some 5 miles from the shoreline location which serves as the base of operations, overseen by the Israeli military. The Associated Press writes that “A satellite image from Sunday by Planet Labs PBC showed pieces of the floating pier in the Mediterranean Sea alongside the vessel.” Planet Labs PBC via AP Both US and Israeli officials have voiced that they hope to have a mobile pier in place and humanitarian deliveries being offloaded via maritime routes by sometime in the first part of May. The causeway is expected to be at a length of 550-meters (1,800 feet) and will have Israeli military protection. US Army and Navy engineers are expected to remain at sea, especially after days ago the pier site came under mortar …

Tory chaos under Sunak has cost UK taxpayers £8.2bn, says Labour | Rishi Sunak

Tory chaos under Sunak has cost UK taxpayers £8.2bn, says Labour | Rishi Sunak

Published by skeptic

Conservative turmoil under Rishi Sunak has cost the taxpayer £8.2bn and nearly a year in lost time, according to calculations by Labour’s political attack team. On Tuesday the Labour party unveiled a website and a bill totting up the cost of ministerial reshuffles, policy U-turns, byelections and unnecessary ministerial expenses incurred under Sunak’s premiership. The bill includes a £2.6bn emergency cash payment for the Home Office after unforeseen expenditure on hotels for asylum seekers, the £1.4bn spent on the now-scrapped northern leg of HS2, and the £4.1bn bill faced by homeowners coming off their fixed-rate mortgages in the next year, according to the Financial Conduct Authority. As part of its calculations, Labour included a £40m Ministry of Defence contract for “VIP” helicopter rides, which Sunak personally intervened to keep. The party highlighted several examples of ministerial waste, including the reported £34m cost of an office makeover at the Department for Education and the £15,000 damages bill paid to an academic whom the science secretary, Michelle Donelan, had falsely accused of supporting Hamas. The bill also …

Are You One of the 940,000 Taxpayers Owed B in IRS Refunds from 2021? Here’s What to Know

Are You One of the 940,000 Taxpayers Owed $1B in IRS Refunds from 2021? Here’s What to Know

Published by skeptic

The IRS just might owe you money from your 2020 tax return — including a 2020 Recovery Rebate Credit — and the unclaimed refund is set to disappear in less than two months. If you didn’t file taxes in 2021 because you didn’t think you qualified, you forgot, or you simply didn’t want to deal with the stress of filing, the IRS could be holding onto some money for you. But the IRS won’t hang on to these funds for much longer.  This story is part of Taxes 2024, CNET’s coverage of the best tax software, tax tips and everything else you need to file your return and track your refund. According to the IRS, it is holding more than $1 billion in unclaimed money for almost 940,000 taxpayers from 2020. The average missing refund size from 2021 is $932, and if you’re one of the many taxpayers who never claimed their 2020 refund, you don’t have much time left to act. By law, the IRS keeps these unclaimed tax refunds for three years. The agency usually …

Fat cat salaries have surged since Sadiq Khan became Mayor of London | Politics | News

Fat cat salaries have surged since Sadiq Khan became Mayor of London | Politics | News

Published by skeptic

Sadiq Khan has been accused of squandering taxpayers cash as new figures show fat cat salaries have almost doubled under his watch. The number of staff earning more than £100,000 has surged from 655 to 1,146 in the past six years, according to the TaxPayers Alliance. The dramatic rise in six-figure salaries comes as Londoners are braced for inflation-busting council tax rises next month. Susan Hall, the Conservative candidate for May’s London Mayoral elections, blasted the largesse. She said: “Under Sadiq Khan, City Hall has turned into one big gravy train, with hundreds of staff receiving salaries greater than the top 4% earners in the country.  “Many of the staff directly responsible for bringing in the ULEZ expansion are earning over £100,000, paid for by the poorest Londoners through his £12.50 daily tax. “Sadiq Khan won’t listen to Londoners, but I am listening. Under my Mayoralty, City Hall will be leaner and focused on serving Londoners, not wasting money or taxing the poorest through the ULEZ expansion.” Mr Khan has come under mounting pressure over …

Taxpayers Pay 15K After Tory Minister Accused Academic

Taxpayers Pay 15K After Tory Minister Accused Academic

Published by skeptic

The government has spent £15,000 of taxpayers’ money to cover the damages incurred by a cabinet minister’s inaccurate claim against a professor. The science secretary, Michelle Donelan, wrongly accused Professor Kate Sang of expressing sympathy for the Palestinian militant group, Hamas, on X (formerly Twitter). The professor then took out a libel action against the cabinet minister, which was settled with Donelan agreeing to pay damages – with the public purse picking up the bill. It has now emerged that the payment was £15,000, which the Department for Science, Innovation and Technology, said was paid “without admitting any liability”. “There is an established precedent under multiple administrations that ministers are provided with legal support and representation where matters relate to their conduct and responsibilities as a minister, as was the case here,” the department said in a statement. “The Secretary of State received the appropriate advice from relevant officials at all times. “A sum of £15,000 was paid without admitting any liability. This approach is intended to reduce the overall costs to the taxpayer that …

IRS Direct File: Pilot program now open to taxpayers

IRS Direct File: Pilot program now open to taxpayers

Published by skeptic

The IRS Direct File pilot program is now open to receive tax filings from eligible taxpayers. The program allows some taxpayers to file online for free directly to the IRS, using the agency’s own in-house software and customer service support. Only taxpayers who live in Arizona, California, Florida, Massachusetts, New Hampshire, New York, Nevada, South Dakota, Tennessee, Texas, Washington, and Wyoming are eligible to participate. SEE ALSO: How to talk to a human at the IRS The program started as invite-only and had set windows for submitting a return. Now, Direct File is available 24 hours a day. Upon expanding the program, the IRS noted that it may briefly close if the daily allotment for returns is exceeded. Should that happen, taxpayers should check back the following day as more spaces will be added. If you’ve started a return through Direct File, you can continue working on it, even if the IRS temporarily closes the Direct File website. To learn more the Direct File program, read our previous coverage on how to file taxes online …

‘National Scandal’: Tory Rwanda Scheme Set To Cost Taxpayers Half A Billion Pounds

‘National Scandal’: Tory Rwanda Scheme Set To Cost Taxpayers Half A Billion Pounds

Published by Sam

Rishi Sunak’s plan to send asylum seekers to Rwanda could end up costing the government half a billion pounds, it has emerged. A report into the scheme by the National Audit Office (NAO) has revealed that the Home Office has already paid the Rwandan government £220m, despite the fact that no one has yet been deported to the east African country. In addition, the government spending watchdog said the UK is set to pay another £50m a year between 2024 and 2027. On top of this, Britain will also give Rwanda £20,000 for every asylum seeker who is deported to the country. And if 300 people end up being deported, the east African country will get an extra one-off payment of £120m – bringing the overall total to a staggering £500m. Shadow home secretary Yvette Cooper branded the cost “a national scandal”. Sunak has made getting the policy up and running a key part of his pledge to “stop the boats” carrying asylum seekers across the English Channel. Under the scheme, which was signed by …

SNP outrage as taxpayers fork out £11k for MSP to give 15-minute speech in Los Angeles | Politics | News

SNP outrage as taxpayers fork out £11k for MSP to give 15-minute speech in Los Angeles | Politics | News

Published by skeptic

The SNP has sparked fury as Scottish taxpayers were left footing a hefty £11,580 bill for the Scottish minister for innovation to deliver a 15-minute speech on space in Los Angeles – which boils down to £772 per minute. Richard Lochhead, the SNP minister for small business, innovation, tourism and trade, travelled to America to boast about Scotland’s ambitions to become a leading European space nation at a Space Economy Summit. The cost of his trip, which doesn’t include the expenses of the two officials who accompanied him, has sparked criticism from Tory rivals. Conservative MSP Murdo Fraser suggested that during a cost of living crisis, the minister could have used technology like Zoom instead of spending public funds on such a trip. It comes as a space strategy published by Scottish ministers last year argued that the sector could boost the economy by £4 billion and create 20,000 jobs, the Scottish Daily Express reports. The UK Space Agency has granted nearly £7 million to a project that includes four Scottish spaceports in Sutherland, Argyll, …