The PVF allows the investor to receive an up-front payment (typically, 75-85% market value) in exchange for delivery of a variable amount of shares or cash in the future, at which time the capital gain is realized for tax purposes and the tax on the capital gain is paid.
Residents ordering individually must buy a minimum of 500 litres, which is charged at a higher rate, and companies are increasingly asking for paymentupfront.
There was plenty of news on the large-cap front Monday too, with Wal-Mart speeding up its final dividend payment of 2012 to avoid the likely higher tax rates next year.
The Daily Mail reported that other options being considered by the government include changes to the duty's payment bands or making the tax a one-off up-front charge on new vehicles, instead of charging annually.
The Wall Street Journal reports that Google is joining Citigroup and Mastercard to set up a mobile payment system that would let Android users wave their phones in front of a small reader at a checkout counter to pay for something.