London Sports Festival moves from 3×3 basketball success to pickleball at the City of London Corporation’s Guildhall Yard
Whistleblowing reports of minimum wage violations fall thanks to furlough scheme November 8, 2021 The number of whistleblowers reporting businesses for breaking national minimum wage laws has dropped to its lowest in four years, with the furlough scheme considered a key driver of the change. Whistleblower reports of national minimum wage (NMW) violations fell to 2,488 over the year, down from 2,580 last year, according to law firm Pinsent [...]
Criminal gangs stole £350m from Covid support schemes November 5, 2021 Fraudsters taking from Covid support schemes have cost the taxpayer almost £5bn, new analysis has revealed. Organised crime gangs took £350m from schemes including the furlough Coronavirus Job Retention Scheme, the Self-Employment Income Support Scheme, and the subsidised meals initiative Eat Out to Help Out. A remaining £4.6bn was taken opportunistic fraudsters, according to figures [...]
Scotland says, who needs oil and gas when you have whisky? November 2, 2021 As world leaders and conservationists continue to put more pressure on the use and extraction of fossil fuels to preserve the planet and combat global warming Scotland moves investors swiftly away from this sector to one of its oldest and most prized exports, whisky: Yes, you read correctly whisky, and what’s more surprising is scotch [...]
‘System out of the dark ages’: HMRC overcharges people taking money from pensions by more than £44m October 29, 2021 Between July and September of this year HMRC refunded £44,659,174 to people who were over-taxed when accessing their pension, according to new figures released today. People accessing lump sums from their pensions will initially be taxed as if they will take the same sum every month for the rest of the tax year., so those taking a [...]
Second home buyers dodge bullet of stamp duty rise for now October 28, 2021 Chancellor Rishi Sunak may have taken a last minute decision not to increase the stamp duty surcharge paid by landlords and second home buyers. The government had planned to hike the three percentage point surcharge on additional property purchases to four percentage points, first reported by the Daily Telegraph. In the economic and fiscal outlook, [...]
Exclusive: HMRC’s capital gains tax receipts hit record £11.5bn while Budget increase looms October 26, 2021 There has been much speculation around whether Chancellor Rishi Sunak will increase capital gains tax rates during tomorrow’s budget, which could result in business owners and individuals paying significantly more when they come to sell assets. The increase looms despite HMRC receipts from CGT having risen by 62 per cent in the last five years, [...]
House sales surged by more than two-thirds in September October 21, 2021 There were 160,950 residential transactions last month, considerably higher than last year, but the market is expected to slow following the stamp duty holiday stimulus. The provisional seasonally adjusted estimate of UK home transactions in September was up 68.4 per cent on September 2020, according to HMRC figures. There was a 67.5 per cent leap [...]
Online estate agencies face class action from former self employed workers October 20, 2021 Former self-employed workers are to launch class action against online estate agencies such as Purplebricks and Yopa. Contractors For Justice (C4J) has said it will commence proceedings on behalf of thousands of formerly self-employed local property experts, local agents and territory owners. Workers have been disadvantaged by companies choosing to hire self-employed workers but directing [...]
HMRC to issue ‘nudge’ letters targeting crypto asset owners across the UK October 20, 2021 HMRC has issued a statement warning individuals that they will soon be issuing “nudge” letters specifically in regards to crypto asset holdings. These “nudge” letters are yet to be circulated, but City A.M. checked in with Zoe Wyatt, partner and crypto asset specialist at Andersen UK. “These nudge letters are likely to have been automated [...]
Exclusive: HMRC plotting crackdown on holiday let tax avoiders after record staycation season October 7, 2021 Owners of UK holiday lets face fresh investigations by HMRC after Britain’s record staycation boom of the last two years, accountants at UHY Hacker Young told City A.M. this morning. HMRC has the power to request information or documents from third parties such as holiday booking sites “for the purpose of checking the taxpayer’s tax [...]