Wednesday newspaper round-up: Inheritance tax, FT, Amazon

(Sharecast News) - The number of first-time buyers in the UK has fallen by more than a fifth, while homes in need of renovation are most in demand as buyers look for cheaper properties, in the latest evidence that people are struggling with higher mortgage costs. There were 22% fewer first-time buyers between January and August compared with the same period last year, according to the mortgage lender Halifax. They still accounted for more than half (53%) of all home loans agreed in the first eight months of this year, similar to a year earlier (52%). - Guardian Scrapping inheritance tax would cost the government almost £15bn a year in lost revenue by 2032, according to analysis by the Institute for Fiscal Studies that follows calls from Tory MPs for the main tax on inherited wealth to be abolished. The thinktank said the latest figures from HMRC showed fewer than 4% of estates paid inheritance tax (IHT) in 2020-21, but the rapid growth in wealth among older individuals meant this number was set to rise to more than 7% over the next decade. - Guardian

The Financial Times is considering scrapping its print newspaper in some countries around the globe as its traditional readership continues to decline. The City broadsheet said it was considering whether to maintain its print edition in various locations amid a "volatile and fragile" market. The company, which shuttered its own UK printworks last year, said a comprehensive review had been carried out in 2022, taking into account factors such as reduction in circulation and the impact on subscribers and advertising. - Telegraph

The US Federal Trade Commission has accused Amazon of wielding monopoly power to inflate prices and stifle innovation in a landmark lawsuit taking aim at Big Tech's dominance of the internet The claim by the anti-trust watchdog, which was joined by 17 state attorneys general, follows a four-year investigation into complaints that Amazon and other giant tech groups abused their dominance of search, social media and online retailing to become gatekeepers of commerce on the web. - The Times

The developer of ChatGPT, the generative artificial intelligence chatbot, is reportedly talking to investors about a potential share sale that would value the company at between $80 billion and $90 billion. The valuation would be almost triple what the company was worth after a share sale just eight months ago and would make OpenAI one of the most valued start-ups globally, behind Elon Musk's SpaceX and ByteDance, which owns the social media platform TikTok. - The Times