Usain Bolt may not run at Commonwealth Games unless tax law changes

Shona Robinson wants to see the exemption extended to the Commonwealth Games

By Cara Sulieman

TOP ATHLETES may chose not to compete at the 2014 Commonwealth Games in Glasgow because of UK tax rules.

The tax man takes a cut of any sponsorship earned by non-UK resident sportsmen who appear at events in Britain.

Big events like the London Olympics and the World Cup England is bidding for are exempt.

But the Inland Revenue have NOT exempt the Commonwealth Games from the rules – leaving politicians fearing that athletes like Usain Bolt will fail to show.

BBC’s Big Bill for Compensation hits £1million

By Michael MacLeod

MICROPHONES dropped down toilets and tarmac damage caused by Top Gear are among £1million of insurance claims paid by the BBC in the past thee years.

Compensation payouts for hundreds of incidents have cost the broadcaster the equivalent of more than 6,700 people’s TV licence fee payments.

The bill includes £9,000 paid to extra who fell from the crow’s nest of a ship during filming of a period drama, £8,000 for road damage caused by the Top Gear team and £2,000 to a museum after a film crew knocked over a marble plinth.

Council blunder plunges residents into the red

By Cara Sulieman

A COUNCIL cock-up left many residents out of pocket when their tax payment was taken out of their bank account two days early.

Edinburgh City Council said that they are investigating the blunder, which saw more than 5,000 people who pay by direct debit affected by the “administrative error”.

Today (Mon) was pay day for many residents in the city meaning the extra bill – which was taken out on Friday – would have plunged them into the red and left them hit with banking fees.

A letter apologising for the mistake has been sent out, and the local authority have vowed to pay any charges that residents incur.

Residents use Facebook to start grit campaign

Grit bins lie empty as council's run low

By Cara Sulieman

SCOTS fed up with treacherous road conditions are taking to the internet to vent their anger.

Hundreds of Facebook groups have been set up in protest to the lack of grit across the country – with many encouraging users to refuse to pay their council tax until the streets are save again.

And four Scottish councils have been specifically targeted, with individual groups set up for Aberdeen City Council, West Lothian Council, Fife Council and Midlothian Council.

All four are named ‘Tax Payers for Gritted Roads and Grit Bins With Grit’ – and are calling on the council to sort out the problems caused by weeks of heavy snowfall across the country.

Son knifed dad after council tax bill row

By Andrea McCallum

A SON slashed his frail dad on the neck with a knife after an argument over a council tax bill.

Charles Drummond, 50, was eating dinner with his father James at the Edinburgh home they shared when he launched into a stinging verbal attack.

He grabbed the knife he had been eating his dinner with and thumped his pensioner dad in the neck.

The 78 year-old father was left with a ‘V’ shaped scar and required eight stitches.

Bailed-out RBS offer free coffee and cash to Americans

By Michael MacLeod

ROYAL Bank of Scotland is dishing out free dollars and drinks at Dunkin Donuts to its American customers – while going cap-in-hand to the UK Government asking for more bail-out cash.

The financial giant owns USA-based Citizens Bank and Charter One Bank, which are currently offering $220 (£120) to anyone who opens a new account.

Citizens Bank has even opened a branch in a Boston Dunkin Donuts outlet, offering a month-long free coffee subscription with new accounts.

The Taxpayers’ Alliance hit out at the “super gold-plating” of American customers.

They claimed it was “insulting” to offer the sweeteners to American customers while UK taxpayers’ money is being used to prop up RBS.

Paintball fraudster got tax cash helping hand

By Michael MacLeod

SCOTTISH Enterprise has come under fire for dishing out £30,000 to help a Scots paintball company run by a convicted fraudster.

Edinburgh-based Bedlam Paintball got taxpayer-funded help to develop its “brand strategy” in 2007.

But there are calls for the quango to review its background checks after it emerged Bedlam’s owner Roman Rock, 49, was jailed for three years in 1997 for his part in a £100,000 credit card fraud.

Central Scotland MSP John Wilson said Scottish Enterprise had “failured to learn lessons from previous cases where it has given support to companies run by people with dubious backgrounds.”

But Rock, real name Jan, insisted he had turned his business dealings around since his prison spell for the scam.

Tax man taking Hearts to court

By Cara Sulieman

HEARTS FC could become the next big name football club to face the receivers after being taken to court by the tax man.

A petition was lodged at the Court of Session by HM Revenue and Customs (HMRC) this week in an attempt to recover unpaid tax from Hearts.

The action could force them into administration if the Tynecastle club don’t pay their bill in time and sees then face a 10-point deduction from the Scottish Premier League, a penalty that was metered out to Gretna FC last year.

The Court of Session confirmed that a petition had been lodged but said that no dates had been set.