New research from the World Bank has revealed that the UK has the second most effective tax system amongst the G20 nations for tax compliance and ease of paying corporate taxes. According to the survey, companies take an average of 105 hours per year to prepare and file their taxes in the UK, which equates… Read more…

The House of Lords Economic Affairs Committee has criticised HM Revenue & Customs (HMRC) for its handling of Making Tax Digital (MTD) and called for a delay to some of the regime’s mandatory requirements. The majority of VAT-registered businesses with taxable turnover above the VAT registration threshold of £85,000 will need to keep digital records… Read more…

While a series of false starts and changes of direction have made Making Tax Digital (MTD) seem more complicated than it might need to be, new e-invoicing requirements that come into effect in Italy from 1 January 2019 make it look like a walk in the park. The Italian tax authorities will require VAT-registered businesses… Read more…

Figures released by HM Revenue & Customs (HMRC) have revealed that 180,500 first-time buyers have benefited from the Government’s changes to Stamp Duty Land Tax (SDLT). HMRC estimates that first-time buyers have saved a total of more than £426 million since Chancellor Philip Hammond announced the First-Time Buyers’ Relief (FTBR) in November 2017. At Budget… Read more…

The fifth annual UK Alternative Finance Industry Report has revealed a 65 per cent year-on-year increase in peer-to-peer (P2P) lending. The P2P lending market is now worth £2 billion and small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) appear to be the dominant force behind it. To put the rise of P2P lending into context, its value is… Read more…

The Office for Tax Simplification (OTS) has said that smaller and less complex estates should not be subject to the requirement to file Inheritance Tax (IHT) paperwork. The call was part of a review into IHT, which Chancellor Philip Hammond ordered earlier this year. While just five per cent of estates are subject to IHT,… Read more…

HM Revenue & Customs (HMRC) has opened a public pilot of Making Tax Digital (MTD) for VAT. The pilot is open to sole traders and companies that are up-to-date with VAT, who have not received a default surcharge in the last two years. Some other groups will need to wait to join, including those: trading… Read more…

From next year, payee names will be checked when making bank transfers in order to ensure that funds are being sent to the correct recipient. Currently, only the sort code and account number are checked when making a transfer, something which has been exploited by fraudsters to trick people into transferring tens of thousands of… Read more…

The Chartered Institute of Taxation (CIOT) has warned that HM Revenue & Customs (HMRC) is to review and potentially rework as many as 30,000 self-assessment tax returns that were filed online for 2016-17 owing to concerns that its tax calculator may have wrongly computed the tax liability. The review will begin on 19 November 2018… Read more…

According to figures released in the Autumn Budget, HM Revenue & Customs (HMRC) has prevented around £300 million of fraudulent R&D tax credit claims since the relief was introduced. In a bid to prevent further abuse of this tax relief, Philip Hammond has promised to clamp down on fraudulent claims by reintroducing a Pay As… Read more…