Regulators for accountants and lawyers slammed for weak money laundering supervision March 12, 2019 Most regulators for accountants and lawyers are not doing enough to scrutinise money laundering, a senior regulator said today. A review of the Office for Professional Body Anti Money Laundering Supervision (OPBAS) which was set up a year ago to monitor the performance of regulators, found many were not doing the job satisfactorily. Alison Barker, [...]
Savers cut pension withdrawals amid market volatility and Brexit uncertainty March 11, 2019 Savers have responded “prudently” to Brexit uncertainty and market volatility by cutting pension withdrawals. Ahead of the fourth anniversary of the introduction of pension freedoms, an AJ Bell survey found that regular annual withdrawals were on average 4.7 per cent of the fund value – a third lower than 12 months ago. Read more: With £9.2bn [...]
HMRC launches first investigations using new corporate money laundering powers March 10, 2019 HM Revenue and Customs (HMRC) has launched its first criminal investigations under a new money laundering offence, freedom of information requests reveal. The tax authority is investigating a handful of cases under the corporate criminal offence of failure to prevent the facilitation of UK tax evasion which was introduced in the Criminal Finances Act 2017 [...]
MPs demand estate agents be monitored as part of dirty-money crackdown March 8, 2019 Britain must urgently review its “fragmented” anti-money laundering system and supercharge the UK’s companies registry, a powerful body of MPs has said. The Treasury Select Committee report on economic crime, released today, also said HMRC should begin registering estate agents for anti-money laundering purposes, to prevent ill-gotten gains from being “stashed” in the UK property [...]
The Innovative Finance Isa didn’t get off to a flying start – so how’s it doing now? March 6, 2019 When the Innovative Finance Isa and its not-so-catchy acronym, IFISA, entered the scene back in April 2016, it’s fair to say that it didn’t get off to a great start. This was partly because, compared to its Isa cousins, the IFISA didn’t get much publicity (admittedly, the UK was two months away from the EU referendum, [...]
Rise in scammers using landline phone calls to impersonate HMRC March 2, 2019 There has been an increase in the number of scammers using landline phone calls after a crackdown on con emails and mobile phone texts. HM Revenue and Customs received 60,000 reports of phone scams between July 2018 and January 2019, which is more than three times the amount received in the first-half of last year. Read more: Why [...]
With myths circulating around the impact of a no-deal Brexit, let’s look at the facts February 28, 2019 Brexit was sold to the country as a way of “taking back control”. But now that we are faced with the prospect of no deal, many businesses are fighting to stay in control. In fact, with a month to go until Brexit day, companies are so in despair over the government’s handling of the negotiations [...]
The EIS evolution: How will incoming changes affect investors? February 27, 2019 The enterprise investment scheme, or the EIS, is a shape-shifter. Unveiled by the government back in 1993, the scheme was designed to help small, promising companies access finance by offering generous tax breaks to investors (you can claim income tax relief of 30 per cent when you buy shares in EIS-eligible companies). The EIS has [...]
HMRC blames no-deal Brexit preparation for penalty letter delays February 23, 2019 The UK’s tax authority, HM Revenue & Customs, has said a delay in sending out penalty notices for the late filing of self-assessment returns is due to preparations for a no-deal Brexit. HMRC revealed on Friday in a technical publication that it would send out £100 penalty notices as late as 24 hours before higher [...]
January deals flat as uncertainty weighs on housing market February 21, 2019 Buyers and sellers in Britain’s housing market remained subdued in January, as stamp duty and Brexit uncertainty added to the traditional New Year slowdown. Data released this morning from HMRC has found that residential deals nudged up by 0.8 per cent between December and January, marking a 1.3 per cent rise on the same period [...]