Covid loan fraudsters should turn themselves in to avoid harsher penalties, lawyers say July 4, 2022 Individuals who defrauded the government’s Covid support schemes should consider turning themselves in to avoid even harsher penalties, amid a far-reaching crackdown on those responsible for making fraudulent claims, lawyers have said. The comments come after figures from the UK’s Insolvency Service showed the executive agency has struck off a total of 179 company directors, [...]
DfT speeds up staff security checks as disruption continues at UK airports July 3, 2022 The Department for Transport (DfT) has assured it was speeding up the process to give aviation staff security clearance while disruption continues at UK airports. Counter-terrorism checks are now being processed in 10 days on average – half the time it took in March – while accreditation now takes 5 days, Sky News first reported. [...]
Nearly 2m more Brits trapped by higher tax rates since 2019 Tory election win June 30, 2022 Boris Johnson has heaped higher tax rates on nearly 2m more Brits since he won the 2019 general election, reveal official figures published today. The number of people paying the higher rate of income tax has swelled to 6.14m, up around 1.88m since Johnson led the Conservatives to a huge majority two and a half [...]
Shock in fintech sector: City watchdog FCA launches tax evasion probe into billionaire founder of Wise June 27, 2022 The money transfer giant Wise revealed this morning that the FCA has launched a probe into its billionaire co-founder and chief executive over his status as a so-called deliberate tax defaulter. Wise said the Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) has launched an inquiry into Kristo Kaarmann’s “regulatory obligations and standards”. It comes after Kaarmann was named [...]
HMRC: Big UK firms owe £2.7bn in unpaid VAT June 27, 2022 HMRC is missing out on a total of £2.7bn in underpaid VAT, a new study has revealed. HMRC suspects 208 of the UK’s 2,000 largest businesses have underpaid VAT by an average of £13.4m each, according to fresh analysis by Thomson Reuters. The study said that the £13.4m figure relates to “tax under consideration”, which [...]
Brits paid billions more in taxes over the last year as HMRC ramped up tax collection June 23, 2022 The British population paid more in taxes in 2021-2022 as HM Revenue and Customs collected £718.2bn in taxes, a near 23 per cent rise from the year before. Total HMRC tax receipts for April 2022-May 2022 were £121.9bn, according to HMRC data released today. These were £14.8bn higher compared to the same period last year even as the [...]
Criminal attacks, non-payment and evasion result in £32bn gap between tax expected and tax paid June 23, 2022 The difference between the total amount of tax expected and that which is actually paid hit £32 billion in 2020/21 – according to HM Revenue and Customs (HMRC). At 5.1 per cent, there has been no change in the percentage tax gap compared to the previous year, although the monetary value has fallen by £2 [...]
Execs from TUI, EasyJet and British Airways grilled over role in Bank Holiday travel chaos June 14, 2022 Airlines’ executives were grilled in Parliament over their role in the travel chaos, which has left thousands of Britons stranded over the half-term and Bank Holiday weekend. Representatives from TUI, EasyJet and British Airways (BA) appeared before the Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy Committee (BEIS) today. The committee questioned David Burling, TUI’s chief executive for [...]
Britain’s ‘most-wanted’ tax cheat begins eight year jail sentence after nine years on the run June 10, 2022 One of “Britain’s most-wanted tax fugitives” has appeared in court for her role in a multimillion-pound VAT fraud after she was extradited following nine years on the run. Sarah Panitzke, 48, originally from York, finally faced justice when she appeared at Kingston Crown Court in south-west London on Friday. Panitzke absconded in May 2013 while [...]
Biffa shares soar 25 per cent on £1.4bn takeover bid by US private equity firm June 7, 2022 Biffa has received a takeover offer of around £1.36bn by a US private equity firm today, which sent shares in the waste management giant flying. Biffa shares surged more than 27 per cent to 415p per share by close of play, just 30p shy of the offers stock value – and its highest since its float [...]