Government fails to meet civil service cut pledge: DWP employs more than 81,000 while DCMS has just 570 June 17, 2015 The coalition government failed to meet its pledge to cut the number of civil servants, new figures show. There were 406,140 civil servants employed across government departments in the first quarter of this year – a slight increase on the back end of 2014, and a 15 per cent reduction since 2010, according to [...]
HMRC pays out its highest ever amount to tax whistleblowers June 14, 2015 HMRC paid a record amount to tax informants in the year ending 31 March, City law firm RPC said today. The state tax collector paid out £605,000, up 50 per cent on the previous year. Experts suggest it is because of increased awareness of the rewards available for information. “HMRC does not widely publicise the [...]
Tax evaders in prison less time May 31, 2015 HMRC is cracking down on smaller tax evaders, according to research published today by law firm Pinsent Masons. The pursuit of smaller cases has pushed the average length of custodial sentences given to criminal tax evaders from 41.3 months in 2011 to 17.7 months in 2014. Meanwhile, the total number of tax evaders given a [...]
HMRC waives £100 late tax return fines to prioritise “major” investigations May 30, 2015 Thousands of people who missed the deadline for filing tax returns will be let off of fines handed out for late payment, it has been revealed. HMRC will waive the charge for anyone who offers a "reasonable" excuse for being late, the Daily Telegraph reports citing a leaked internal memo from the government department, to [...]
HMRC wins challenge over Next’s “artificial” tax avoidance scheme May 19, 2015 HMRC has won its challenge against high street retailer Next over an "artificial" tax avoidance structure. The First-Tier Tribunal (FTT) has ruled in favour of the government, which brought the case against Next Brand, part of the wider group. The FTT found the scheme, known as a rate-booster, allowed the business to artificially [...]
What the General Election means for accountants – ACCA Comment May 13, 2015 The next five years won’t all be about stability and certainty To call the result of last week’s election a surprise barely does it justice. Hardly a day has gone by over the past two years without a new poll being released, and those who predicted the result correctly were few and far between. [...]
Former financiers have mixed political fortunes May 10, 2015 THE CITY’S alumni were well-represented in the General Election, with varying fortunes. Chis Chope – a former Ernst & Young consultant – kept the Christchurch Conservative safe seat he has held since 1997 and Sajid Javid – a former high flyer at Chase Manhattan Bank and Deutsche Bank – is tipped for a cabinet promotion [...]
Think tank IFS says Labour cannot bank on 50p tax rate to bring in more money April 28, 2015 Labour cannot bank on bringing more money into the public purse by reintroducing the 50p tax rate, according to new research from the Institute for Fiscal Studies (IFS). The independent research institute said yesterday that raising the additional rate of income tax for people earning more than £150,000 from 45 to 50 per cent [...]
An Isa revolution: Why the savings and investment vehicle is now more powerful than ever before April 23, 2015 Nearly 14m new Isas were opened in 2013-14. According to the recent BlackRock Investor Pulse Survey, the 16 year-old savings vehicle is used by over a quarter of Britons to build up their longterm wealth, and by nearly 40 per cent to provide a rainy day fund for life events. And the government’s revolution in [...]
Surviving the lifetime allowance: You could face 55pc tax on your pension savings unless you plan carefully April 23, 2015 The chancellor’s generosity couldn’t go on forever. Just days before his transformational reforms to pensions were enacted – the end of the compulsory purchase of annuities has at last given savers real power over their money when they reach 55 – George Osborne announced that the pensions lifetime allowance (LTA) would fall from £1.25m to [...]