In a reverse of its previous position, the Government has backed measures to increase the transparency of offshore tax havens. The measures will compel British overseas territories to make public their records of the true owners of the companies that are registered there. The measures were contained in an amendment to the Anti-Money Laundering Bill… Read more…

A response to a freedom of information request has revealed that HM Revenue & Customs (HMRC) cancelled 270,000 late penalty notices in 2016. However, this figure was dwarfed by the 610,000 cancellations in 2015 and the 400,000 cancellations in 2014. The request was made by a partner in a ‘magic circle’ law firm, who was… Read more…

An overhaul of “the complex patchwork” of tax charges and reliefs affecting businesses throughout various stages of the business lifecycle is urgently required in order to stimulate growth among small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs), the Office of Tax Simplification (OTS) has said. In a report published midway through April, the OTS looked closely at business… Read more…

An annual survey suggests that some 1.3 million UK-based small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) intend to branch out overseas this year in a bid to expand their horizons and fuel their growth plans. According to CitySprint’s latest annual survey of business owners and decision makers, ambitions among Britain’s SMEs remain strong despite the fact that… Read more…

The percentage of salary employers and employees must contribute to a workplace pension has increased from 6 April 2018. Employees will now contribute three per cent (up from one per cent) of their annual salary into a personal workplace pension, while employer contributions have increased from one to two per cent. Under the new rules,… Read more…

For a while, company directors have been able to make a tax-efficient living by taking a combination of salary and dividends due to the generous Dividend Allowance. However, changes which took effect from 6 April 2018 have cut the allowance from £5,000 to just £2,000. The changes are meant to level the playing field between… Read more…

EU State Aid approval for the Enterprise Management Incentives (EMI) scheme expired on 6 April 2018, meaning any share options received after this date may not be eligible for tax reliefs. This is an important change for employers who currently grant EMI share options or plan to do so in the future. The Government said… Read more…

Millions of people from across the UK could be paying more tax than they need to, it has emerged, after figures from HM Revenue & Customs (HMRC) showed that more than 15 million individuals have not checked their Personal Tax Accounts. The figure means that less than half of taxpayers have accessed their accounts, risking… Read more…

Small businesses in the UK have long been scourged by late payments, but the problem was brought into sharp focus earlier this year following the collapse of construction giant, Carillion, emphasising the importance of careful credit control. According to the Federation of Small Businesses (FSB), some suppliers were waiting as long as 120 days to… Read more…

Since March this year, self-employed individuals have had the option of reporting their income digitally to HM Revenue & Customs (HMRC) as part of a pilot of the Government’s Making Tax Digital (MTD) programme. The Government has long had the ambition of taking most taxes including Income Tax, VAT and Corporation Tax onto a system… Read more…