A new report by insolvency trade body R3 has revealed that as many as one-in-five businesses might find themselves in difficulty if interest rates were to rise by at least one percentage point in the next 18 months. The findings from R3’s latest Business Distress Index, a long-running survey of a nationally representative sample of… Read more…

According to new research, more than half of pension savers are unsure of the tax rules surrounding the pension freedoms introduced earlier this year. A study conducted by employee benefits consultancy Portus found that 53 per cent of retirement savers are unsure about the taxation of pensions, while only 26 per cent were aware that… Read more…

UK businesses only need to change the way that they account for VAT on transactions between overseas members of the same corporate group if they operate in countries whose tax laws work the same way as in Sweden, HM Revenue & Customs (HMRC) has confirmed. The changes, which apply to transactions on or after 1… Read more…

The Financial Reporting Council (FRC) is calling on smaller listed companies to write concise and understandable year-end reports with clear explanations of how they generate cash flow as well as detailed information about accounting policies. The call is part of the FRC’s year-end advice aimed at 1,200 smaller listed and Alternative Investment Market-quoted companies as… Read more…

HM Revenue & Customs (HMRC) has announced that it has doubled the number of inspectors trawling through the tax files of individuals earning £150,000 or more. Until recently, the taxman was mainly investigating ‘high net worth’ individuals – those earning £1 million or more – but now HMRC’s attention has moved to those a little… Read more…

Statement Summary For the third time in 2015, the Chancellor of the Exchequer has taken to the despatch box to update the Commons and country as a whole on the state of the nation’s finances. There was a lot of debate ahead of today’s Autumn Statement about the approach that George Osborne would take. Would… Read more…

PAYE legislation is changing from 5 April 2016, so employers who intend to or are already payrolling benefits and expenses must register with HMRC using the new online Payrolling Benefits in Kind (PBIK) service. Businesses will be required to align their existing payroll software and register to payroll using the new service. After this date… Read more…

According to new analysis of HM Revenue & Customs (HMRC) data, the cost of passing on wealth to the next generation has increased by three per cent or £5,000 in one year. The analysis by Prudential has revealed that in 2012/2013 – the latest year for which information is available –the British population paid more… Read more…

Members of the Chartered Institute of Taxation (CIOT) have raised concerns about the government’s proposals to reform taxation for non-domiciles, as they fear it could lead to an unfair result for those born in the UK who spend most of their lives abroad, but later return. A new Treasury consultation document has proposed that individuals… Read more…

Last year, the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) co-ordinated an agreement to automatically swap tax information with finance ministers from 51 countries. At the time, Chancellor George Osborne said that tax evasion was “not just illegal, it is immoral” and that because a tax evader was robbing their fellow citizens, they should be… Read more…