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Exclusive: Treasury examines options including tax on homes sold for more than £500,000 as well as overhaul of council taxBusiness live – latest updatesThe Treasury is considering a new tax on the sale of homes worth more than £500,000 as a step towards a radical overhaul of stamp duty and council tax, the Guardian has been told.As Rachel Reeves prepares the ground for tax rises in this autumn’s budget, senior ministers have tasked officials to study how a new “proportional” property tax could be implemented and model its impact before reporting back to ministers, who have been briefed on the

Most of more than 147,000 customers affected reconnected by Monday as category 4 storm not forecast to make landfallHurricane Erin’s outer bands pelted the US territory of Puerto Rico with heavy rains and tropical-storm winds during the day on Sunday, knocking out power to tens of thousands of customers, according to officials.At one point, more than 147,000 utility customers were without power in Puerto Rico, according to Luma Energy, a private company that oversees the transmission and distribution of power on the island. By 5.30am on Monday, 96.3% of customers had electric service, with most who were affected by outages

South Carolina and Ohio are also sending members of their national guard to capital as Trump administration takes over police departmentWhite House trade adviser Peter Navarro said India’s purchases of Russian crude were funding Moscow’s war in Ukraine and has to stop, while adding that New Delhi was “now cozying up to both Russia and China.”“If India wants to be treated as a strategic partner of the US, it needs to start acting like one,” Navarro wrote in an opinion piece published in the Financial Times, adding that it was risky for American companies to transfer cutting-edge military capabilities to

Former defence secretary allowed to take role as chair of Cambridge Aerospace, as long as he avoids defence mattersThe parliamentary standards body has been criticised for clearing Grant Shapps, a former Conservative defence secretary, to join a defence startup as long as he promises not to work on defence matters.In a ruling that drew scorn from political ethics experts, the Advisory Committee on Business Appointments (Acoba), which monitors and advises on the revolving door between Westminster and the business sector, gave Shapps the green light to become the chair of Cambridge Aerospace. Continue reading... Source link : https://www.theguardian.com/politics/2025/aug/18/watchdog-condemned-for-clearing-grant-shapps-to-join-defence-startup Author :