NS&I under fire for ‘short-changing’ bereavers Banking The UK’s state-owned savings giant is facing mounting backlash over its handling bereaved families’ savings. National Savings and Investments (NS&I) – formerly called the Post Office Savings Bank – has faced criticism for leaving families of deceased savers forced to call in lawyers to claw back their rightful cash. The Treasury-backed vehicle, which holds around £250bn [...]
HMRC rejects nearly half of digital tax exemptions Tax HMRC has rejected almost half of applications from taxpayers seeking exemption from Making Tax Digital (MTD) for Income Tax. Figures obtained via a Freedom of Information (FoI) request by Saffery show that as of February 2026 more than 1,600 people had applied for exemption on the grounds of “digital exclusion”. Of those, 855 applications were [...]
Small businesses ‘dismayed’ at HMRC plan to tighten tax rules Tax Small businesses are “dismayed” at the prospect of tax rules being tightened under new proposals set out by HMRC. The rules, which are subject to a consultation, would require close companies, which are defined as firms controlled by five or fewer individuals, to provide HMRC with details of all transactions between the company and its [...]
Brits fleeing Dubai could trigger ‘surprise’ UK tax bills March 16, 2026 British expats returning to the UK from the Middle East over safety concerns as a result of the war in Iran could face “hidden tax costs”. The British expat population in the UAE is among the largest outside the UK, with estimates of 130,000 to 240,000 British nationals living and working in Dubai and Abu [...]
Brits remain in the dark over pension tax relief rate as deadline looms March 16, 2026 The countdown is on for the end of the tax year, but Brits are still in the dark over their pension tax relief, causing them to miss opportunities to boost their wealth. Almost nine in ten people do not know the rate of tax relief they receive on pension contributions, according to the latest research [...]
UK firms deliberately halting growth to dodge VAT March 2, 2026 Thousands of businesses are deliberately constraining their growth to remain below the £90,000 threshold at which firms start paying VAT. City accounting firm Lubbock Fine has argued that the government should raise the threshold to £115,000, the level it would be if it had increased in line with inflation since 2017. The VAT threshold was [...]
Reeves urged to cut bank tax as UK competitiveness lags February 25, 2026 Rachel Reeves is facing renewed calls to cut tax on the banking sector after new bombshell research laid bare the competitive disadvantage UK lenders are battling against. The Chancellor spared banks from a highly-anticipated fresh tax raid in the Autumn Budget but a new report – penned by the Association for Financial Markets (AFME) and [...]
Hunslet RLFC’s lesson for rugby league profitability? Pay HMRC February 20, 2026 Something incredible happened in the world of English rugby league this week. No, not the World Club Challenge victory for Hull KR over Brisbane Broncos, but a club in Hunslet RLFC turning a profit. Various reports state that, across the latest possible Companies House records, only Leigh Leopards turned a profit, over £500,000 better off [...]
Inheritance tax haul hits another record February 20, 2026 The government raked in a record amount of cash from inheritance tax, as receipts for the unpopular levy were boosted by frozen thresholds sucking in a record number of taxpayers and ballooning asset prices. The exchequer collected a total of £7.1bn between April 2025 and January 2026 from the tax, official HMRC figures show, a [...]
Making Tax Digital set to boost SME productivity February 5, 2026 Britain’s push to digitise tax ahead of the Making Tax Digital (MTD) deadline is set to help close its productivity gap with countries like France and Germany, City AM understands. According to Starling Bank, wider use of digital financial tools by SMEs could add £25.3bn to the economy, helping to narrow the UK’s productivity gap [...]