Parliament’s spending watchdog has accused HMRC of deliberately running down its phone services to force people to go online, according to a report. The Public Accounts Committee’s (PAC) report into HMRC’s customer service levels found that the average call waiting time has passed 23 minutes. It also found that 44,000 customers were cut off without… Read more…

The government has commissioned an independent review of the Loan Charge. The Exchequer Secretary to the Treasury made a Written Ministerial Statement announcing that Ray McCann, a former President of the Chartered Institute of Taxation, would lead the review. The review will examine the barriers preventing those who are subject to the Loan Charge but… Read more…

The Chartered Institute of Taxation (CIOT) is calling on the government to address unfair tax rules as interest rates on late payments rise. The CIOT is urging the government to reintroduce rules which enable HMRC to waive interest on underpaid VAT when no actual tax loss to the Exchequer occurs. This power was omitted from… Read more…

New rules that will give more flexibility over how occupational defined benefit pension schemes are managed, according to the government. The government said this will remove blockages that are inhibiting its growth agenda. Approximately 75% of schemes are currently in surplus, worth £160 billion, but restrictions have meant that businesses have struggled to invest them.… Read more…

UK firms are expecting to reduce both output and hiring this quarter, according to a survey conducted by the Confederation of British Industry (CBI). Activity has been flat or falling since the middle of 2022, reflecting a prolonged period of stagnation. The survey suggested that sentiment among businesses dipped in the aftermath of the Government’s… Read more…

Small firms fear the new Employment Rights Bill will harm recruitment, according to a survey by the Federation of Small Businesses (FSB). The research shows that 92% of small employers have concerns about measures in the Bill. One of the main concerns cited in the Bill is changes to unfair dismissal legislation, which would expand… Read more…

The UK economy grew for the first time in three months in November, according to the Office for National Statistics (ONS). ONS figures showed an expansion of 0.1% in GDP after the economy shrank in each of the two previous months. But the figure was lower than economists had expected, with declines in manufacturing and… Read more…

The International Monetary Fund (IMF) has upgraded its growth forecast for the UK economy this year. The global institution upgraded its prediction for UK growth to 1.6% for this year from its previous estimate of 1.5%. As well as upgrading its outlook for the UK, the IMF suggested the UK economy would perform better than… Read more…

HMRC is reminding people who pay tax by self assessment of the opportunity to spread the cost of their bill with the Time to Pay facility. More than 15,000 self assessment customers have already set up a Time to Pay payment plan for the 2023/24 tax year to help spread the cost, according to the… Read more…

HMRC could save an estimated 1.7 million hours of call handlers’ time every year if it implemented an automated status tracking system, according to two of the leading bodies for tax advisers and chartered accountants. A joint study by the Chartered Institute of Taxation (CIOT) and ICAEW tracked attempts to contact HMRC across phonelines and… Read more…