OBR risks being ‘unreasonably pessimistic’ as Reeves set to be given leeway October 10, 2025 The Office for Budget Responsibility (OBR) risks being “unreasonably pessimistic” if it decides to downgrade productivity growth trends by more than 0.1 percentage point, fresh analysis has indicated, in what could hand Chancellor Rachel Reeves some extra leeway at this year’s Budget. The fiscal watchdog is widely expected to downgrade productivity forecasts as part of [...]
Gingardium Leviosa: Harry Potter star Emma Watson’s gin brand takes off October 9, 2025 The luxury gin brand co-founded by Harry Potter star Emma Watson has surged in value after raising an extra £5m. Renais Gin was launched in May 2023 by the actor and her brother Alex and is now sold in 11 countries. The siblings were inspired to set up the company by childhood trips to their family’s vineyard, [...]
St James Place warns self-employed to act now as digital tax deadline looms October 9, 2025 Financial giant urges landlords and sole traders to prepare for new digital filing rules amid slow national take-up. St James’s Place has urged hundreds of thousands of sole traders and landlords to prepare now for the rollout of Making Tax Digital (MTD) for income tax, warning that leaving it too late could risk fines and [...]
Rare reprieve for Reeves as ONS says data error cuts borrowing by £3bn October 8, 2025 Chancellor Rachel Reeves has been handed a rare reprieve ahead of the Budget after a data error reported by the UK’s statistics authority reduced expected public borrowing by £3bn. A mistake in the counting of value added tax receipts by tax collector HMRC was identified in an update by the Office for National Statistics (ONS). [...]
Tories vow to ease IR35 rules and cut red tape for small businesses October 6, 2025 Identification checks for small businesses would be eased under a new Tory pledge to slash red tape and allow entrepreneurs to open bank accounts at a quicker pace. Andrew Griffith, the shadow business secretary, will tell party members that the Tories would make growth among small businesses central to wider economic plans as they would [...]
London’s Hippodrome Casino VAT recovery hopes dashed by Tribunal October 6, 2025 London’s Hippodrome Casino has failed to overturn a ruling on the method used to calculate the tax recovery for residual input tax. The 24-hour casino, located in the heart of Leicester Square, also features restaurants, bars, and a theatre, where Magic Mike Live has been performing since 2018. While most people attend the Hippodrome for [...]
Capital gains tax raid should have ‘health warning’, Labour warned October 6, 2025 Labour risks stunting growth and discouraging investment if it pursues further capital gains hikes, tax advisers have warned, as reforms proposed by top think tanks were pushed back on by industry figures. Rachel Reeves and Keir Starmer have talked up the prospects of attracting investment in the UK and making the wider tax system fairer [...]
Jaguar Land Rover to bailout suppliers after state ‘rescue’ stalls October 5, 2025 Jaguar Land Rover is finalising a deal to lend its suppliers millions of pounds as the tax-payer backed rescue of the carmaker hit a wall. Bosses are putting the final touches to a sweeping lifeline that would see up to £500m be injected into its supply chain, which is at a standstill. The privately funded [...]
Ladbrokes and Coral owner files copyright claim against matched betting rival firms October 3, 2025 Entain, the owner of Ladbrokes and Coral, has filed an intellectual property lawsuit against two of the largest matched betting companies, OddsMonkey and Outplayed. The claim, filed with the English High Court by law firm Wiggin, alleges unauthorised use of its brand logos and copyrighted materials, with Entain describing the matched betting business model as [...]
‘Grotesquely unfair’: 700,000 Brits caught in 60 per cent tax trap October 2, 2025 There are growing calls for the government to overhaul tax rules for top earners after fresh data obtained by City AM revealed just under 700,000 Brits are now caught in the so-called 60 per cent tax trap. Another 74,000 taxpayers were added to the punitive £100,000-£125,000 income bracket during the 2024/25 tax year, according to [...]