£24bn Brexit rebound: UK goods imports from EU overtake non-EU trade while Russian influx soars March 12, 2022 Goods imports from the EU rebounded fat the start of 2022, despite uncertainty over changes in HMRC methodology, to overtake Non-EU countries, after non-EU imports of goods to the UK surpassed those from the EU for the first time in 2021 since the ONS started recording the data in 1997. Over £24bn worth of goods [...]
13m illegal cigarettes seized from UK streets as black market booms March 9, 2022 Investigators have seized over £7m worth of cigarettes over the past year, as the government cracks down on illegal tobacco trade on the streets. Across England and Wales, 13 million cigarettes and 4,300 kilos of hand-rolling tobacco have been seized by authorities. The operation, conducted by HM Revenue and Customs staff, Border Force officials, police [...]
High Court says investors should have gotten their ‘own advice’ instead of relying on top QC’s opinion memo March 8, 2022 A High Court judge has said a leading barrister cannot be held responsible for any losses suffered by those invested in film financing schemes, with a view to gaining tax benefits, after reading the QC’s advice in memos used to advertise the investment schemes. Mr Justice Zacaroli said Andrew Thronhill QC cannot be held responsible [...]
HMRC owes construction workers close to £1.5bn following pandemic property boom March 8, 2022 Almost £1.5bn is owed to Britain’s construction workers by the taxman following the pandemic property boom, according to new data shared with City A.M. today. It is estimated that more than 1m people working in the sector could be owed a tax refund, after the industry “weathered a particularly fierce storm” to keep Britain building [...]
EU court rules against Britain in £2.2bn import fraud case March 8, 2022 The European Union's highest court has ruled against Britain in a fraud case involving billions of pounds worth of import fraud.
Not going anywhere: Trucks full of aid for Ukraine stuck in Britain due to Brexit red tape March 8, 2022 Frustrated charity workers have said that items they are trying to get to war-torn Ukraine are stuck at the Port of Dover due to complex post-Brexit paperwork and custom checks. Agnieszka Lokaj, who runs the Lewisham Polish Centre in south London, told Politics Home that her charity had up to five tonnes of donations that is currently [...]
HMRC action yields £0 in half of all tax probes but taxman hits back: ‘We are not driven solely by money’ March 8, 2022 HMRC investigations into individuals and small businesses last year yielded no returns in nearly half of of all cases, according to new research shared with City A.M. this afternoon. The proportion of investigations which returned no money to the Treasury has risen by over a third, to 47 per cent last year up from 31 [...]
The City View: Keeping The Lights On March 7, 2022 In this Monday episode Andy Silvester chats to Jack Barnett, City A.M.’s Economics and Markets reporter, about European market reaction to Russia-Ukraine; energy prices and how commodity price hikes could impact inflation; and the difficulty for countries in switching off from Russian energy. Andy also takes us through the headlines: Sanjeev Gupta, CEO of Liberty [...]
HMRC withdraws winding up petitions for GFG Alliance firms March 7, 2022 The taxman has withdrawn petitions to wind up four steel businesses from GFG Alliance, providing under-fire steel king Sanjeev Gupta a late hour reprieve. GFG announced on Monday that positive discussions with creditors had resulted in the petitions being withdrawn. The conglomerate had been searching for rescue financing to save firms including Liberty Steel after [...]
Exclusive: Tax probe yields hit staggering £30bn as HMRC fights to recoup lost Covid revenues March 5, 2022 The total revenue HMRC generated from tax investigations and other compliance activity has risen to £30.8bn in 2021, up from £28bn in 2020 as it looks to pursue tax lost to evasion or avoidance during the pandemic, lawyers have told City A.M. this morning. HMRC had to suspend some tax investigations work for part of [...]