Minimum wage breaches, including breaches of the National Living Wage, have cost workers from across the UK a combined total of £15.6 million in lost wages. Figures released by the Government show that around 200,000 workers were affected in 2017/18, in what was the highest underpayment since the National Minimum Wage was introduced. In total,… Read more…

With only six months left until the launch of Making Tax Digital for VAT, HM Revenue & Customs (HMRC) has finally begun sharing information with businesses about the new regime. While accountants and professional advisers across the UK have been making clients aware of the new digital system for more than two years, the nation’s… Read more…

Recent research has shown that micro businesses are bearing the brunt of late payments, with just 52 per cent of the invoices they issue being paid on time. However, the research found significant regional variation, with 68 per cent of micro businesses in Peterborough encountering the scourge of late payments. The research was based on… Read more…

The number of investigations conducted against estates thought to be avoiding Inheritance Tax (IHT) has increased, according to new data from HM Revenue & Customs (HMRC). The tax authority has revealed that 5,400 estates were investigated during the 2017/18 tax year – a five per cent increase on the previous year’s figure (5,100 estates). This… Read more…

The Government has launched a new savings account that offers savers a 50 per cent tax-free bonus on the money they deposit. The new Help to Save account will offer savers up to 50p for every £1 that they save, which could mean that people could benefit from as much as £1,200 of tax-free money… Read more…

On average, less than one in 10 SME loan applications to one nameless high street bank are successful. The figures were released by SME funding platform, Code Investing, whose CEO, Ayan Mitra, said: “Due to regulation, due to banks having huge cost structures, due to SMEs not having standardised data, there’s quite a big funding… Read more…

A freelance marketing and business development consultant has reached a settlement with HM Revenue & Customs (HMRC) after arguing that she should be entitled to holiday pay as she was considered to be a worker for tax purposes. Susan Winchester had claimed £4,200 in holiday pay against HMRC after she was deemed to fall within… Read more…

The Chancellor has announced that the 2018 Budget will take place on Monday 29 October 2018, having given just half the usual 10 weeks’ notice of the date. The Autumn Budget, which took place for the first time last year, having been moved from the traditional spring date, was initially trailed to take place annually… Read more…

In the last few years the property sector has been hit by a number of new tax rules, but now there are two new things on the horizon that landlords must consider. Rent-a-Room Scheme The current Rent-a-Room scheme offers people up to £7,500 a year tax-free from letting out a spare room. However, HM Revenue &… Read more…

The archetypal 9am to 5pm working day might be so ingrained into the psyche of workers across the Western world that Dolly Parton wrote a song about it, but new research has revealed that it is now an unusual way to make a living for UK workers. The YouGov survey found that just six per… Read more…