💰 Tax Party

Author

Crown Crew
August 14, 2023

☕ Good Morning!

This is TC, the UK biz newsletter you can always lean on to get you through the day.

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Today’s reading time: 4 minutes.

MARKETS

* Prices as of 6:30 am. Click here to suggest a change.

AUTO

THE SECOND LIFE OF A TOTALED TESLA

What happened: On Friday, CNBC Executive Editor Jay Yarow tweeted (posted?) that a Tesla Model X he had totaled last year came back online in — wait for it — the war front of Ukraine...

  • "Someone there is listening to Drake on my, still logged in, Spotify account", he mentioned.

But how: Following the tweet, which went viral, CNBC reporters did an entire crash course on what happened to their editor’s car.

  1. The totaled Tesla was sent to a local scrapyard.

  2. An online auction site Copart, affiliated with the local scrapyard, listed it for sale.

  3. Someone from the Ukraine seems to have won the bid.

  4. The car was shipped from New Jersey to Europe, where its new owner was able to access Yarow’s Spotify playlists.

Why it matters: Cars these days are just computers on wheels. When scrapped — personal data like trip history and contacts can be left for anyone to access. Consumers might want to be more cautious. You never know who’s going to get in the driver’s seat next.

ECONOMY

OLD SCHOOL TAX MAKES A COMEBACK

The cost of living crisis has got European governments going old school.

As FT recently spotlighted, they are now dusting off a century-old tool — windfall taxes — to balance their books and tackle public fury over big corporations making profits during tough times.

Wait... WTF is windfall tax?

The ELIM5 version is that it's a surprise tax bill sent to companies making a killing during a crisis.

Capiche? Cool. Let’s dive in


Driving the news: The Italian government recently imposed this tax on banks, joining a trend that kicked off when power prices shot up after Russia's invasion of Ukraine.

  • But Italy isn't the only one. 24 EU countries have announced or implemented windfall taxes since the outbreak of war in Ukraine.

Why it matters: These taxes were initially targeted at energy companies. But they are now creeping into other sectors...

  • The UK has introduced a tax on profits made on oil and gas extraction from the North Sea.

  • Portugal has imposed a 33% tax on food distributors with “excess profits”.

  • Croatia has gone further still, introducing a risible windfall tax that applies to all companies that report a revenue above €40mn.

Their aim? Plug budget deficits and offset increased government spending.

By the numbers: A total of 30 windfall taxes, some covering multiple sectors, have sprung up across Europe since 2022.

BIG PICTURE

TikToxic. TikTok users in the UK worry being left with a less safe and more toxic version of the app after EU rules forced the tech giant to make its “For you” page optional.

Vice to Advice. Cigarette packs in the UK will now include advice on how to quit smoking.

Musk calls Zuck yellow. If you’re already sick of hearing about the Musk-Zuckerberg fight, keep on scrolling. But we’ve got some news: Mark shuts door on the cage fight, saying Tesla Boss Elon “isn’t serious.” Musk responded, “Zuck is a chicken.” đŸ„±

BY THE NUMBERS

🚰 1.75 million hours. The amount of time raw sewage was pumped into rivers and seas in the UK.

🚌 1,500. Bus routes England has lost in the last two years.

🌊 500 million. Age of the world’s oldest jellyfish, the fossil of which was discovered this week. The ancient jellyfish’s shape resembles the modern-day deadly box jelly.

CROWN PICKS

GAMES

LEADERBOARD TRIVIA

  1. King Charles III and the British Royal Family

  2. The Catholic Church

  3. Inuit People of Nunavut

  4. Australian billionaire Gina Rinehart

  5. Inuvialuit People of the Inuvialuit Settlement Region

These are the top 5 items in which list?

Answer tomorrow.

LET US HEAR IT

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