Citizens International - Citizenship + Investment Services’ Post

Public perception of government services is at a record low. At the end of 2023, Ipsos found that eight in ten Brits say public services have worsened over the past five years. To fight against this, a boost of #innovation in #publicservices is needed https://bit.ly/4bXD39h

Learn how the 2025 COLA adjustments will affect Social Security beneficiaries and the financial impact on taxpayers as a whole.

Learn how the 2025 COLA adjustments will affect Social Security beneficiaries and the financial impact on taxpayers as a whole.

Explore insights from this week's newsletter from the Committee for Economic Development, the public policy center of The Conference Board: -How can we ensure the 2024 presidential election is secure, credible, and accessible? -What is the state and trajectory of the global economy? -What was in the President's Fiscal Year 2025 budget? -What changes have been made to the Federal Child Care and Development Fund? What will happen if funding for the Affordable Connectivity Program ends? https://lnkd.in/eneqtDMP

The stability of the FCC’s USF is vital for maintaining competitive edge through reliable communication networks. Challenges to this fund may cause service disruptions or cost hikes, influencing business efficiency and growth prospects. Monitor developments closely! #BusinessStrategy #Connectivity

As we enter the New Fiscal Year, the government contracting (GOVCON) landscape is buzzing with new opportunities under the new incoming administration. For small businesses and industry partners, this is the time to: ✅ Align with agency priorities for upcoming RFPs. ✅ Leverage socioeconomic certifications. ✅ Form strategic partnerships to meet innovation demands. #GOVCON #NewFiscalYr #smallbiznews

Why the digital transformation is a pillar for rebuilding trust in government: Trust is a complicated issue, and while improving the ‘digital experience’ citizens have with government websites and apps isn’t a panacea, it will go a long way toward restoring faith By Rob Hankey The post Why the digital transformation is a pillar for rebuilding trust in government first appeared on Federal News Network. #FedearlNewsRadio #News

Just finished scanning the latest Annual Report of the United Kingdoms National Audit Office. It never fails to amaze me not only the sheer breadth of activities performed by National Audit Offices but also how they do it. The ongoing investments in transformation, culture, staff training, use of analytics and many more. If you like such reading I suggest setting a little time aside to read the recently published Annual Reports of the UK National Audit Office.

So what did we learn from todays Spring Budget: 🔶 **National Insurance** experienced a further reduction of 2p for workers, decreasing from 10% to 8%, following a prior decrease of 2p in the previous year's Autumn Statement. 🔶The earnings threshold for **child benefit** has been elevated to £60,000 from £50,000. 🔶The extension of the **windfall tax** on oil and gas companies' profits has been prolonged until 2029. 🔶Simultaneously, the **capital gains tax** for higher-rate property has been decreased from 28% to 24%. 🔶The **non-dom tax break** utilized by affluent foreign residents in the UK has been eliminated. However, new residents will remain exempt from tax on foreign income and gains during their initial four years of UK residency. 🔶The duration of the **Household Support Fund** has been extended by six months, which falls short of the desired two-year extension by charities. 🔶**Alcohol duty** has been maintained at its current level, and the 5p reduction in **fuel duty** has been prolonged. 🔶A new **British ISA** has been introduced to incentivize increased investment in UK assets. 🔶The **VAT threshold for small businesses** has been raised from £85,000 to £90,000. 🔶New taxes on **vapes** and higher taxes on **business class flights** have been announced by the chancellor. https://lnkd.in/gcCyT6_i

The Spring #Budget included several proposals designed to cajole UK savers and the #financialservices industry into investing more in the UK. Forcing pension funds to disclose rates of UK investment, or increasing the ISA allowance for investment in British firms, fails to resolve the #policybarriers driving private capital abroad, particularly in sustainable industries, which are our biggest source of future growth. Our members are clear that the answer to unlocking billions more in private investment lies in demonstrating policy certainty and ensuring the UK has high-quality #investableprojects with long-term growth potential. UKSIF is pleased to see that the Spring Budget includes #planning and #gridconnection reforms which we have been calling for several years as a measure that will help to drive private investment into the UK’s #cleanenergy industry. Our Energy report, released in late February, clearly shows that planning wait-times and insufficient grid connectivity has driven as much as £115bn in private investment overseas. Points 5.83 to 5.85 of the budget’s red book demonstrate a will for crucial differentiation in planning permission timelines to speed up Nationally Significant #Infrastructure projects such as #windfarms, which will ultimately lower household #energybills and drive the UK’s #netzero transition. The Chancellor has announced that this government is due to deliver one million new homes this parliament. We would urge the government to consult with industry to ensure that all subsequent new homes are built with net-zero in mind, so that they will not require expensive retrofitting in the near future. The housing sector is among the UK’s biggest emitters, and the UK has a golden opportunity to expand its housing stock in a way that saves people money on their energy bills while progressing towards our legally binding net-zero targets. Tight public finances make it all the more important for the UK to take policy measures to attract private investment into sustainability projects. In order to compete with the US’ #InflationReductionAct and the EU’s #GreenNewDeal, the UK must remove the barriers which are currently driving private investment overseas in major growth areas of the future such as wind farms, hydrogen fuel, and EVs. The UK has a clear choice, to seize the golden opportunity within reach to become a green superpower, delivering highly skilled jobs and billions in investment, or to be left playing catch up. https://lnkd.in/gWcrv_Bx