Poor tax scrutiny has enabled abuse and fraud, MPs warn July 26, 2023 Poor scrutiny of the “complex” tax system has led to relief abuse and even fraud, an influential finance committee of MPs have warned. The Treasury Committee is calling for a systematic review into the cost of over a thousand forms of tax relief which they say are “complex, un-costed and exploited” in a new report. [...]
Taxpayer to hand over £150bn to Bank of England to cover QE losses July 25, 2023 Taxpayers will have to foot a £150bn bill to cover cumulative losses on the Bank of England’s bond buying scheme over the coming decade, a new projection has claimed today. The Treasury is forecast to inject hundreds of billions of pounds into the central bank’s balance sheet to make up for a shortfall in its [...]
HMRC recovers a ‘remarkable’ £34bn from investigations into tax evasion and avoidance July 23, 2023 Investigations into tax evasion and avoidance have yielded £34bn in extra tax revenue over the past year, according to HMRC’s annual report. Although the total this year was higher than the £30.8bn gained last year, it was still lower than the £36bn targeted by HMRC. Tax evasion, which is illegal, is when someone conceals information [...]
Families unfairly penalised by UK tax system, CPS report warns July 10, 2023 The UK tax system must be reformed so that families are no longer unfairly penalised, a think tank has warned. Couples with two children and a single earner of £60,000 will pay over £7,000 more tax than if both parents earned £30,000 each, Centre for Policy Studies (CPS) researchers found. Research found single-earner married couples [...]
Hunt downplays tax cuts odds, conceding calming inflation is tougher than feared July 8, 2023 Tax cuts was growing less likely as Chancellor Jeremy Hunt signalled the pledge to halve inflation was proving harder than expected.
Javid: Truss ‘ignored’ Treasury warnings on balancing books – and Britain ‘paid consequences’ July 3, 2023 Liz Truss “ignored” warnings from the Treasury orthodoxy meaning the country “paid the consequences” for her disastrous mini-budget, Sajid Javid has said. The former chancellor said the focus in HMT on “balancing the books in the medium term” was a good thing, and without that the UK “would have constant financial crisis”. Speaking at an [...]
Council trialling four-day work week ordered to ‘end experiment immediately’ July 3, 2023 A council undergoing a four-day work week trial has been ordered to stop the experiment by a minister over concerns about local residents not getting value for money. South Cambridgeshire District Council was the UK’s first local authority to launch a trial of a shorter working week for employees, and said it planned to extend [...]
Quarter of taxpayers in London and southeast stung by higher income tax July 2, 2023 A quarter of taxpayers in London and the southeast of England now fall within the higher rate of income tax, it has been revealed. Almost 2.5m people in the capital and commuter belt constituencies now come under the 40 or 45 per cent tax bracket, analysis of HMRC data by the Liberal Democrats has shown [...]
Number of higher rate income taxpayers soars to record high 5.59m June 29, 2023 The number of Brits paying the higher rate of income tax has surged to its highest level on record, caused by Prime Minister Rishi Sunak and Chancellor Jeremy Hunt freezing tax bands to help rebalance the public finances, official figures out today reveal. Some 5.59m people in the UK are being subjected to the higher [...]
Peel Hunt records £1.5m loss as revenue down almost £50m amid ‘extraordinary’ market turmoil June 16, 2023 Investment banking firm Peel Hunt recorded a loss of £1.5m after warnings the UK is experiencing “extraordinary” market turmoil. The company reported revenue of £82.3m, down £48.7m on last year’s £131m, it made a loss before tax of £1.5m – a drop from the previous 12 months’ pre tax profits of £41.2m. CEO Steven Fine [...]