Tax / The urgent requirement to correct UK taxes

Justin Stevenson, associate director at RSM, discusses the requirement to correct (RTC) legislation and how it will affect taxpayers with assets overseas
24 Sep 2018

Insight / Economic trends: wages, unemployment and monetary policy

The short-term gains in wage growth may be limited by weak productivity and a low unemployment rate, suggests George Buckley, chief UK economist at Nomura
24 Sep 2018

Tax / HMRC contractor wins IR35 payout

A contractor who worked for HMRC has successfully claimed over £4,000 at an employment tribunal after the tax authority insisted she was not self-employed under IR35 rules but failed to make arrangements for holiday pay
24 Sep 2018

Tax / Record £15.6m minimum wage underpayments

HMRC identified a record £15.6m of underpayments for workers on the minimum wage this year, which saw some 600 employers fined £14m not meeting legal obligations
24 Sep 2018

Tax / HMRC’s take from criminal tax investigations up 31%

HMRC hauled in almost a third more from each criminal investigation it launched last year, with the average tax take rising from £1.9m in 2016/17 to £2.5m, according to analysis by UHY Hacker Young
24 Sep 2018

Tax / EC wants action on €150bn VAT losses

European Commission analysis shows EU countries lost almost €150bn (£134bn) in VAT revenues in 2016, with the UK and Ireland among a minority of six member states to report an increase in the ‘VAT gap’ between expected revenue and the amount actually collected
24 Sep 2018

Insight / Boss’s ban extended for running new company

An engineering boss from Aberdeen who was already serving a ban has had his disqualification increased by the court after he was found running a new company and continuing to fail to make payments due to HMRC
24 Sep 2018

Technical Alerts

21 Sep 2018

Audit / Venus: artificial intelligence in the boardroom

The gathering pace of technology means that machine learning and blockchain will soon make their presence felt at the top level of business, but there will still be a need for someone to hold the reins, argues David Venus FCIS
21 Sep 2018

Insight / Danish bank chief quits over €200bn money laundering

The chief executive of Denmark’s biggest bank has resigned after an internal investigation revealed most of some €200bn (£178bn) of payments moved through its Estonian branch was down to money laundering of cash from Russia, the UK and the British Virgin Islands
21 Sep 2018

Insight / Treasury investigates barriers for women in business

The Treasury has launched a review into barriers for women in business after research found that they are half as likely as men to be involved in starting a business, and only a third of entrepreneurs are female
21 Sep 2018

Insight / Millennial employees prepared to delegate to robots

Research involving 1,200 finance employees in the UK found millennials plan to use robots to avoid human interaction at work, while older workers only intend to use them to tackle tasks such as online filing
21 Sep 2018

Tax / HMRC promotes online work-related expenses claims

HMRC is urging millions of employees such as nurses, hairdressers and construction workers to go online and directly check if they can claim extra cash back for work-related expenses, amid concerns they could be missing out on their full tax relief entitlement by using agencies instead
21 Sep 2018

Insight / VAT fraud haulier delivered to jail

A husband and wife team from County Tyrone who ran a haulage company have been given jail sentences for a £194,000 VAT fraud following an HMRC investigation
21 Sep 2018

Tax / Telecoms company tops tax defaulter list owing £2.7m

HMRC’s latest list of major tax defaulters is topped by a telecommunications company owing £2.7m on £4.3m unpaid tax, followed closely by an online trader owing £2.6m, with a raft of restaurants and takeaways, as well as an accountancy service and financial instruments provider, also featuring
21 Sep 2018

Audit / Call for internal audit and finance team collaboration

The Chartered Institute of Internal Auditors (IIA) and International Federation of Accountants (IFAC) have collaborated on a research study which aims to encourage closer working between the internal audit function and finance function in order to ensure effective governance
21 Sep 2018

Insight / 'Motherhood penalty’ creates financial services gender gap

Motherhood is a key driver behind the lack of women in top roles in financial services, according to research commissioned by the Association of British Insurers (ABI), which says more evidence of ‘what works’ is needed to tackle the disparity
21 Sep 2018

Insight / People in the news: Armstrong Watson, MHA Carpenter Box

This week's news of professional moves in the sector includes a head of tax at Armstrong Watson, 11 trainees join MHA Carpenter Box’s audit and business services teams, restructuring firm CVR Global appoints an associate director
21 Sep 2018

Technical Alerts

20 Sep 2018

Accounting / Pensions SORP 2018: what has changed?

The Pensions Statement of Recommended Practice (SORP) has been updated to bring it in line with the latest FRS 102 triennial review. Sarah Perrin ACA looks at the key changes including common investment funds, definition of a financial institution and material uncertainty
20 Sep 2018

Tax / Making Tax Digital and rural businesses

With Making Tax Digital on the horizon, rural businesses risk being left behind and labelled as ‘non-compliant’ unless they act quickly, warns Mark Pryce
20 Sep 2018

Tax / Buying property for the children: beware the tax risks

With soaring property prices, helping your children on to the property ladder might seem like a good idea but can be fraught with tax and other financial consequences. Liz Cuthbertson, partner at Mercer & Hole, examines the options
20 Sep 2018

Audit / KPMG and former ESML finance director face FRC questions

The Financial Reporting Council (FRC) is conducting a disciplinary hearing involving Douglas Morgan, a former finance director of Equity Syndicate Management Ltd (ESML), KPMG and a partner and former partner at KPMG, in relation to a long running investigation into financial reporting at a Lloyds syndicate
20 Sep 2018

Insight / Rural communities left behind by Scottish broadband plan

Audit Scotland has warned that the Scottish government’s plans to provide fibre broadband access to 100% of premises in Scotland by 2021 will be ‘difficult to realise’ as geographical constraints and technology limitations slow progress
20 Sep 2018

Tax / McDonald's Luxembourg deal did not break tax rules

A lengthy investigation by the European Commission has concluded that Luxembourg did not offer illegal state aid to McDonald’s with favourable tax treatments, and the reason for the double non-taxation was down to a mismatch between Luxemburg and US tax rules
20 Sep 2018

Insight / Expert panel to investigate digital economy competition

The Chancellor, Philip Hammond, has hosted the inaugural meeting of a new independent expert panel looking at competition in the digital economy which will be examining the potential legal and regulatory impact
20 Sep 2018

Insight / Equifax hit with maximum UK data breach fine

Credit ratings agency Equifax has been fined £500,000, the maximum possible at the time, by the Information Commissioner’s Office (ICO) for failing to protect the personal and financial information of up to 15m UK citizens during a cyber-attack in 2017
20 Sep 2018

Tax / Starbucks under fire over 2.8% UK tax rate

Starbucks has come under further fire over its tax policies after analysis showed the US chain’s European business paid just $5.9m (£4.47m) of tax in the UK on profits of $213m (£161m) last year
20 Sep 2018

Insight / Deloitte’s global revenues hit $43.2bn

Deloitte has reported an 11.3% rise in global revenues, which hit $43.2bn (£323.7bn) for the fiscal year ended 31 May 2018, making the firm the current leader of the Big Four worldwide
20 Sep 2018

Audit / FTSE 350 reporting improves ahead of new governance code

Next year’s introduction of a new corporate governance code is already having an impact on reporting in the FTSE 350 ahead of the January 2019 deadline, according to analysis by EY which found indications that companies are already starting to provide information in new areas like company culture
20 Sep 2018

Insight / 'Queen of prints' enters liquidation

Orla Kiely, the 1970s-inspired fashion designer, has closed its UK and Irish stores and called in administrators following a period of difficult trading
20 Sep 2018

Technical Alerts

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