Monday newspaper round-up: Income tax, Ofgem, Equitable Life, Wm Morrison
Income tax bands could be scrapped to give average earners as much as £1,100 each without costing the government a penny, according to a report calling for radical changes to make theUK tax system fairer. According to the Institute for Public Policy Research thinktank, just as much money could be raised by the government if it merged income tax with national insurance, scrapped existing tax bands and introduced individual rates that would be tailored around pay and would rise with higher earnings. - Guardian
Ofgem is to formally ban gas and electricity suppliers from issuing customers with back-bills for energy used more than 12 months ago. Most of the big suppliers are bound by a voluntary agreement that prevents them chasing a domestic customer for energy supplied more than a year ago. After a consultation, the energy regulator has banned all suppliers from back-billing, where the consumer has provided meter readings and acted in good faith. - Guardian
Endless, the British turnaround fund, has sold out of Continental car parts maker Brabant Alucast for €53m (£47m). The investor is well-known for taking on distressed UK firms, with Jones Bootmaker, West Cornwall Pasty Company, steel bar manufacturer Acenta Steel and discount book store The Works among its past buys. – Telegraph
Equitable Life is preparing to pay out hundreds of millions of pounds to policyholders, paving the way for a potential sale nearly 18 years after it closed to new business. Chris Wiscarson, the mutual insurer’s chief executive, has drawn up plans to pay some 300,000 policyholders a one-off sum of several thousand pounds each. - Telegraph
Wm Morrison is facing a potential £100 million equal pay compensation claim from hundreds of its staff, who believe that they have been underpaid compared with colleagues. More than 170 possible claimants, predominantly women, are already preparing to launch a legal challenge demanding pay parity for carrying out work of “equal value” with staff, often men, working in distribution centres and warehouses. – The Times
Credit Suisse has launched an investigation into how it handled an alleged workplace assault eight years ago after the case was resurrected by the victim this year and received no attention by the investment bank. A female employee, who has left the bank, claimed to have been sexually harassed by her senior male manager in 2010. The incident was referred to the Metropolitan Police, which investigated it twice in 2010 and 2011. No charges were brought. Credit Suisse also conducted an internal inquiry and no disciplinary action was taken. The senior manager still works at the bank. – The Times