Property: Has spring sprung? Mini budget ripple blamed for keeping a lid on monthly sales April 28, 2023 UK residential transactions in March 2023 totalled 89,560 which was 19 per cent lower than the same month a year ago but 1 per cent higher than February 2023, according to HMRC. The seasonally adjusted figures also show the total of non-residential property purchases, including commercial and factory property was 10,640, three per cent higher than [...]
Tech companies may try to dodge digital tax if OECD reforms are delayed, UK spending watchdog warns April 5, 2023 Tech firms may try to dodge a UK government tax levied on digital companies if international tax reforms on the sector are delayed, parliament’s spending watchdog warned. The public accounts committee said this week that it had raised £358m from the digital services tax in its first year, 30 per cent more than expected, but [...]
No firms charged with ‘failure to prevent’ tax evasion in 6 years – here’s why April 3, 2023 The UK taxman has not charged any British firm with the ‘failure to prevent tax evasion’ offence since it was introduced six years ago, HMRC has confirmed. Under the offence, introduced in 2017, a British company can be criminally prosecuted if it was found to have not put adequate checks and systems to prevent its [...]
Premier League to ban potential owners on human rights grounds March 30, 2023 The Premier League has announced tougher rules for anyone looking to buy one of its clubs, including incorporating human rights in its new owner’s and directors’ test (OADT). English top-flight clubs unanimously approved the changes, which will take effect immediately, at a shareholders’ meeting today. Potential owners could now be banned from purchasing clubs if [...]
How Premier League clubs may have avoided paying £250m in tax March 30, 2023 Premier League clubs may have avoided paying up to £250m in tax, experts have warned. The Tax Policy Associates say that the 20 top flight clubs could have cost a quarter of a billion in lost tax between 2019 and 2021, and £470m since 2015. The group says in their report that: “Football clubs at [...]
Who has been hit hardest by £21bn of pandemic fraud, and will the taxpayer EVER get it back? March 30, 2023 The UK Government has lost £21bn worth of taxpayers money due to fraud since the start of the pandemic, that is “very unlikely” to be unrecovered, according to the National Audit Office (NAO). The NAO said that many public bodies are unaware of the amount of fraud they face, as it revealed that levels of [...]
Pensions, Isas, child benefit limits and inheritance tax: Your ten point end of tax year checklist March 29, 2023 In five year’s time the annual income of another 2.1 million taxpayers will fall into the higher rate tax threshold, a rise of 47 per cent, according to the Office for Budget Responsibility (OBR). The threshold has been frozen since April 2021 – and is expected to stay frozen until April 2028 while the threshold [...]
Junior Isas and the £100k children’s savings club: As savings deadline approaches parents reminded to use their tax free allowance March 28, 2023 Around 40 children had Junior Isa pots worth £200,000 or more at the end of the 2020/21 tax year, according to HM Revenue and Customs (HMRC) figures. And around 500 had savings pots worth £100,000 or above, the figures indicate. The rounded figures were released after a freedom of information request made on behalf of [...]
Spring Budget 2023 fails contractors, freelancers, agency workers (and the country as a whole) March 21, 2023 Jeremy Hunt’s first budget met expectations. ‘Dammed by faint praise’ fits the bill when best trying to articulate the frustration felt at yet another in a long list of missed opportunities. For those working in compliance and contingent employment, across the contracting sector, the failure is stark and can be charged on two counts. First [...]
Inheritance tax take beats all records as property price hikes boost HMRC’s coffers by whopping £6.4bn March 21, 2023 The amount of inheritance tax (IHT) paid in February totalled £531m, bringing the total for the 2022/23 tax year to a record £6.4bn. With just one month to go the amount already surpassed the £6.1bn received by the Treasury throughout the entire 2021-22 financial year. The record-breaking inheritance tax take follows last week’s revision by [...]