Barclays has been stopped from using two "highly-abusive" schemes that would have helped it avoid paying hundreds of millions of pounds in tax. It is understood that other major banks also tried to use the same schemes to avoid paying a total of £500m in tax. HM Revenue & Customs (HMRC) said that it had closed the schemes, retrospectively clawed back £500m of tax and had prevented "further billions of tax from being lost". No bank has been named by HMRC in connection with the schemes, but two sources told The Telegraph the bank in question was Barclays. Barclays declined to comment. HMRC said the bank that had disclosed the practices to it had signed the Banking Code of Practice on Taxation. BP is reported to be close to agreeing a $14bn (£8.8bn) settlement with the thousands of businesses and individuals who are suing the UK oil group over the Gulf of Mexico oil spill. A long-awaited trial to assign blame for America's worst offshore oil spill was delayed at the final hour on Sunday to give BP and lawyers for the more than 100,000 shrimpers and hoteliers more time to reach a settlement. BP and the Plaintiffs Steering Committee (PSC), the lawyers representing the businesses, insist that a settlement may not be reached. However, legal experts say that Judge Carl Barbier, who has been handling the case since September 2010, would not have delayed the trial until next Monday unless a settlement was close. The $14bn would come from the $20bn that BP has set aside for the Gulf Coast Claims Facility (GCCF), according to Bloomberg. The GCCF, the compensation fund that BP established in the summer of 2010, would be shut down. The PSC has been seeking damages under the Oil Pollution Act, The Telegraph says.German politicians approved the €130bn (£110m) bail-out for Greece but remained unconvinced by Angela Merkel's warning that abandoning Greece would be "incalculable and therefore irresponsible". The Bundestag voted through the rescue funds with a large majority. But Ms Merkel was shown tough political and public opposition to any more support, just a day after the G20 demanded German backing for the Eurozone firewalls. Standard & Poor's said it had put the European Financial Stability Facility (EFSF), the "big bazooka" tasked with raising the bail-out funds, on negative outlook. The rating agency said the fund's profile was weaker since some of its guarantor countries were stripped of their AAA ratings. S&P also downgraded Greece to "SD", meaning it believed the country has undergone a selective default. The agency cited Greece's retroactive insertion of collective-action clauses to its debt as the reason for the move, The Telegraph writes.The highest-earning 1% of Britons pay almost 30% of all income taxes, according to research. The 308,000 on the 50p top rate - who earn more than £150,000 - pay £47bn a year to the Treasury. Since 2000, the share of tax paid by the highest earners has risen from 22.2 to 27.7%. Research by Oriel Securities shows the 3.7m who earned more than £35,000 and pay 40% tax, hand over £57bn in tax, 34% of the total. The lower-earning 50% pay £17bn - less than the housing benefit bill. Overall, 90% of all income tax is paid by half the working population. About 3.7m people earn between £35,000 and £150,000, placing them in the bracket that pays the 40% income tax rate. Collectively they pay £57bn in income tax, about 34% of the total. Michael Spencer, chief executive of the City broker Icap and former treasurer of the Conservative party, said: 'The debate about tax in this country has sadly become more and more about politics and less and less about what is good for the economy and for growth. 'All we hear about is "the rich must pay more; soak the rich". Well the facts are clear; the rich are paying much more, says The Daily Mail.Thousands more pensioners may have to sell their family homes to afford inflation-busting increases in residential care fees. Research has found average care home fees have soared by as much as 14% over the past year, forcing families to find hundreds of pounds more every month. Fees are rising because councils, which fund poorer residents, are slashing back the amount they are prepared to pay for them. This means private care home operators are making up the difference by increasing prices for everyone else. In London, where the rises have been highest, annual average charges are now £35,300, up £4,400 from a year ago. For those who have to go into a nursing home offering more care and attention, costs are even greater. In counties to the north of London, average charges are £45,100 a year, according to The Daily Mail.The owner of Britain's second largest oil refinery has warned that closures are likely across the UK and Europe in the wake of the collapse into administration of the Coryton complex in Essex. India's Essar Energy, which is listed on the FTSE 100, said its Stanlow facility in Cheshire could compete in a cut-throat market but warned that less sophisticated rivals would suffer. Essar's chief executive, Naresh Nayyar, said refineries must be able to process difficult fuels such as dense crude oil - cheaper than lighter fuels like Brent crude - and need to be of a certain size in order to keep costs per barrel at a profitable level. Companies that did not fit that profile would struggle, Nayyar added, The Guardian reports. AB
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