Richard Asquith
@richard-asquith.bsky.social
Tax tech chap. Spreading global fiscal chatter
open.substack.com/pub/jasquith... Every generation gets radicalised differently. Some had Vietnam. Some has Tiananmen Sqaure. This one has six months at Burger King and emerged demanding nationalisation.
On the Slop floor
A Former Worker's Case for Nationalising Burger King
open.substack.com
There’s a lot to be pessimistic about at the moment - but @j-amesmarriott.bsky.social @ Dominic Sandbrook adding to it with the Death of Literacy with social measures last night was at least fun. @theresthistory.bsky.social
It's just remarkable that if you're white, male, and conservative you are allowed to call for political violence that would get anyone who doesn't tick all those boxes absolutely pilloried. The group with the fewest legitimate grievances in society provided the widest grace to rage. Wild.
Sunder Katwala (sundersays)@sundersays.bsky.social · 2mo agoX owner Elon Musk has reposted his Sept 2025 call that pre-emptive inter-ethnic violence (civil war) is necessary for 'self-defence "Elon Musk was always right "You either fight back, or you die."
What does Trump 2.0 mean for tax multilateralism? In a new paper in the British Tax Review, I look at why (and how) international tax cooperation has proved surprisingly resilient in an age of multilateral breakdown. Open access: doi.org/10.31235/osf...
Great thread, though I do think "you can't raise VAT because that causes rates to go up" is rather questionable
Torsten Bell@torstenbell.bsky.social · 3mo agoIt’s okay for the Tories/Times/Telegraph to pretend that taxes are up “because of welfare”. That’s politics. But if you care about policy you need to understand that is a long way from the truth - and wrestle with the consequences
🤖 expect govt’s to burn through ideas on taxing AI (token or SaaS levies) till they realise the mechanism they need is already there www.vatcalc.com/global/how-t...
How to tax AI - vatcalc.com
Artificial Intelligence promises extraordinary productivity gains.
vatcalc.com
The TikTok medium is the message. McLuhan for the algorithm age open.substack.com/pub/jasquith...
Media, Hot and Cold
Marshall McLuhan and the YouTube Short
open.substack.com
⛽ Iran conflict inflationary pressures starts off tax cuts www.vatcalc.com/spain/spain-....
Spain cuts fuel VAT to 10% as energy shock response - vatcalc.com
Spain is preparing an emergency indirect tax package to soften the inflationary impact of escalating Middle East tensions, with a headline measure to reduce
vatcalc.com
Drunk on bad tax policies www.vatcalc.com/united-kingd....
UK Reform 'Save our Pub' 10% VAT rate - popular politics, poor policy - vatcalc.com
Nigel Farage’s Reform UK Party - which is leading in UK opinion polls - announcement of a five-point rescue package for Britain’s pub and hospitality sector
vatcalc.com
🪖Swiss mull 2028 0.8% VAT rise for "deterioration of the security situation". On top of approved 2028 0.7% rise for pensions www.vatcalc.com/switzerland/...
Switzerland mulls 0.8% VAT rise 2028 for military expansion - vatcalc.com
World's only single tax engine & reporting application, uniquely codifying Swiss and global VAT rates for live invoice determination and returns
vatcalc.com
Can the US impose tariffs on some members of the EU and not others? Yes (and there is precedent). Would those tariffs be difficult to enforce? Also yes.
Anyone else have scrap Bingo Duty 2026 on their Budget Bingo card?
Labour Budget closes VAT private car hire operator loophole - Bolt & Uber - 1st Jan 2026 www.vatcalc.com/uk/uk-budget...
UK Budget: VAT on private ride-sharing operators 1st Jan 2026 - vatcalc.com
The 26 November UK 2026 Budget, from Chancellor Rachel Reeves, is excluding private hire vehicle operators / platforms from TOMS - imposing VAT collections
vatcalc.com
Liability fears push OpenAI to warn on AI tax advice reliance www.vatcalc.com/global/opena...
OpenAI warns off use of AI as tax advisor - vatcalc.com
In a quiet but significant policy shift, OpenAI has reclassified ChatGPT as an educational tool rather than a consultant, effectively barring the system from
vatcalc.com
The AI that lied: fake Polish VAT rulings loses company €4m contract www.vatcalc.com/global/ai-va...
AI VAT hallucinations cost a business a €4m contract - vatcalc.com
Artificial intelligence is being hailed as a revolution in how businesses process information, prepare documents, and handle compliance.
vatcalc.com
So the 1990s gave us the ‘knowledge economy’—and now AI is basically the liquidation sale. Everything must go, including your thoughts substack.com/@jasquith/no...
Embracing the Artifice
Some Thoughts on A.I.
substack.com
Russia's defence spending forces VAT hike in 2026 to 22% www.vatcalc.com/russia/russi...
Russia 2026 2% VAT rise to 22% - vatcalc.com
Russia’s Ministry of Finance has put forward a 2% VAT rise to 22% from 1 January 2026. The VAT registration threshold will also be cut from Rub 60 million to
vatcalc.com
Yawn. Speculation on latest desperate & ineffective VAT measure www.vatcalc.com/united-kingd...
UK mulls cutting VAT on domestic fuel: relief or blunt instrument? - vatcalc.com
The UK government is considering scrapping VAT on domestic fuel bills in the 26th November Budget. Chancellor Rachel Reeves has asked officials to examine the
vatcalc.com
💥 Romania President today signs 2% VAT rise 1 Aug 2025 Happy weekend all lovers of VAT 😍
A UK wealth tax sounds simple: "tax the super‑rich, fund public services" But it's not. Our 16,000 word deep‑dive shows revenues are fragile, it puts growth, investment and jobs at risk, and there's no revenue before 2029. Here’s the evidence:
Some of the legal proposals for the next EU multi-year budget are now published - own resources and MFF proposals (scroll down) - commission.europa.eu/strategy-and...
EU budget 2028-2034
The main aspects of the EU’s long-term budget for 2028-2034, its revenue and spending areas, as well as factsheets on key aspects are available on this page.
commission.europa.eu
EU rejects Italian tax speculative VAT assessments on free social media platform services www.vatcalc.com/italy/italy-...
EU VAT Committee disagrees with Italy's Meta, X & LinkedIn barter VAT stance - vatcalc.com
On 14 May 2025, EU's VAT Committee disagreed with Italy's interpretation of the right to assess VAT on the 'barter' exchange of free use of digital social
vatcalc.com
Germany comes out punching: drawing-up 10% Digital Services Tax. In Feb, President Trump launched review of such discriminatory taxes, with tariff threat www.vatcalc.com/germany/germ...
Germany 10% Digital Services Tax proposal - vatcalc.com
The new Merz Federal government is considering a 10% levy on large digital platforms such as Google and Meta. In the current global tax regime, such digital
vatcalc.com