handling | Common News Update

Apr62021 by adminNo Comments

Here’s guidance for handling taxes on Covid-related withdrawals from retirement accounts

Finance

MoMo Productions | DigitalVision | Getty ImagesThat early withdrawal from your retirement account last year may have been a life saver. Now, it's time to start paying the taxman.Most retirement savers did not take a distribution under legislation that authorized penalty-free early withdrawals amid the pandemic.However, for those who did, the majority (69%) say they either don't plan to replace any of the money they withdrew or are unable to do so, according to recent research from Principal Financial Group. Another 18% intend to repay part of their withdrawal, and 13% say they'll replace the full amount.Be aware that you're required to include at least a portion of any taxes owed on your 2020 return — which is due May 17. And depending on the tax form you received, extra steps may be requi...

Mar152021 by adminNo Comments

Merkel’s party suffers historic defeats as Germans react to handling of COVID crisis

World

German Chancellor Angela Merkel's party has suffered historic defeats in regional elections as voters reacted to her handling of the COVID-19 crisis.The Christian Democratic Union (CDU) lost out to the Greens in the southwest automotive hub of Baden-Wuerttemberg and to the left-leaning Social Democrats (SPD) in neighbouring Rhineland-Palatinate. Mrs Merkel has been in power since 2005 and will not be standing again at the federal elections in September following four consecutive national election victories. Image: Christian Baldauf, the top CDU candidate in Rhineland-Palatinate, reacted as results came in The record defeats in the regional elections, only held in the two wealthy southern states and seen as a bellwether for September, ...

Apr122019 by adminNo Comments

Bounty pregnancy club fined £400,000 over data handling

Technology

Pregnancy club Bounty UK has been given a £400,000 fine for illegally sharing the personal information of more than 14 million people.The fine was issued by the Information Commissioner's Office (ICO) in what it said was an "unprecedented" case.Bounty compiled personal data but did not tell people that it was shared with 39 other organisations, said the ICO.Bounty said it "acknowledged" the ICO's findings and had now made changes to how it handled member data.'Careless' data-sharingThe Bounty pregnancy and parenting club offers free samples, vouchers and guides to prospective and new parents via packs given out in hospitals or sent to people who use its apps.Bounty gathered information from apps, its website, cards in merchandise packs and from new mother...

Jan52019 by adminNo Comments

German cyber officials defend handling of mass data attack

World

Germany's cybersecurity authority has defended its handling of a mass data attack on hundreds of politicians, after criticism it did not tell the police about the breach for weeks.The agency says it was not aware of the full extent of a systematic leak of information until Thursday night.Journalists, celebrities and politicians, including Chancellor Angela Merkel, are among those whose personal data was published online.It is unclear who was responsible.The attacks took place throughout December, but did not become public knowledge until Friday.The contacts, private chats and financial details of figures from every political party - except the far-right AfD - were posted on Twitter.The interior ministry says there is no evidence ...

Sep272018 by adminNo Comments

Ofgem orders energy firms to improve complaints handling

Business

Energy regulator Ofgem has ordered 11 of the UK's biggest suppliers to improve how they deal with complaints.The regulator said it had "compliance cases" open against four companies over customer dissatisfaction with how they handled complaints.It has also asked another seven to improve their procedures.However, the chief executive of industry body Energy UK said suppliers' overall performance in dealing with consumers' problems was improving.Lawrence Slade pointed to Ofgem's own figures which showed that the number of complaints received by suppliers had nearly halved since 2014. However, when the regulator last carried out its complaint handling survey in 2016 only two firms were singled out for their performance. Following its latest survey, Ofgem has ...