Britain’s ‘most-wanted’ tax cheat begins eight year jail sentence after nine years on the run June 10, 2022 One of “Britain’s most-wanted tax fugitives” has appeared in court for her role in a multimillion-pound VAT fraud after she was extradited following nine years on the run. Sarah Panitzke, 48, originally from York, finally faced justice when she appeared at Kingston Crown Court in south-west London on Friday. Panitzke absconded in May 2013 while [...]
Biffa shares soar 25 per cent on £1.4bn takeover bid by US private equity firm June 7, 2022 Biffa has received a takeover offer of around £1.36bn by a US private equity firm today, which sent shares in the waste management giant flying. Biffa shares surged more than 27 per cent to 415p per share by close of play, just 30p shy of the offers stock value – and its highest since its float [...]
Airlines axe hundreds of flights while ‘blame game’ between government and industry continues June 1, 2022 Passengers have seen another day of disruption as airlines continue to axe hundreds of flights while the “blame game” between government and industry shows no signs of stopping. British Airways (BA) today cancelled 124 flights from Heathrow and easyJet axed an additional 31 at Gatwick. According to aviation analytics firm Cirium, easyJet was the most [...]
Exclusive: Brits slapped with £571m in HMRC fines in crackdown on tax avoidance and late payments May 31, 2022 Penalties imposed by HMRC on taxpayers have jumped by nearly a third, from £445m to £571m in just one year, according to fresh HMRC data, shared exclusively with City A.M. today. The primary reason behind this jump is HMRC increasingly clamping down on tax avoidance as part of its efforts to make up for revenue [...]
Should it take four hearings to decide employment status? May 31, 2022 Justine Riccomini explains the outcomes in the two latest employment status cases to emerge from the Court of Appeal Another two IR35 cases were decided recently, which furthered the cause of HMRC in their pursuit of television and radio presenters when the Court of Appeal found in favour of HMRC in both instances. Kickabout The [...]
Royal Mail under fire for wrongly charging British customers £150 ‘Brexit tax’ May 30, 2022 Royal Mail is under fire from angry Brits for reportedly charging incorrect Brexit import fees on deliveries from the European Union. The mail giant wrongly slapped fees on items customers already own. One man was charged around £200 for a pair of glasses to be sent back from a hotel in Spain, according to a [...]
Revealed: HMRC now tracking 277 UK businesses it suspects of using tax havens to reduce tax bills May 30, 2022 HMRC is now tracking 277 British businesses it suspects of using ‘tax havens’ to artificially reduce their tax bills in the UK, according to a City law firm. HMRC is concerned that some UK businesses are still avoiding tax in the UK by recording income in countries with zero or near-zero corporation tax. Countries traditionally [...]
Exclusive: Steep surge in income tax and national insurance as higher taxes bite in cost of living May 26, 2022 The combined amount of Income Tax and National Insurance paid in the last twelve months has soared by 13 per cent to more than £387bn, new figures from HMRC show. The latest data from the taxman comes amidst the growing cost-of-living crisis, the Government is now likely to come under increasing pressure to alleviate the [...]
Reforms to stamp duty holiday could pin down runaway house prices, say industry chiefs May 25, 2022 A cocktail of record house prices, HM Revenue and Customs HMRC’s record stamp duty earnings and plunging property transactions have left property chiefs calling for reforms. Reworking the stamp duty, the tax put on residential properties over £125,000, could help rebalance the hot property market and runaway valuations, according to onlookers. “Stamp duty has an [...]
Govt owes itself £263m in back taxes as Whitehall departments failed to comply with payroll rules May 25, 2022 Due to a failure of Whitehall departments to comply with rules on off-payroll working, MPs have stated that the Government owes itself hundreds of millions of pounds in back taxes. The Commons Public Accounts Committee said it was “not acceptable” that central government was paying out to cover tax owed for individuals who had been [...]