HMRC has amended legislation to shut down a VAT avoidance scheme in which financial services exploit current rules using offshore looping

HMRC has launched a 12-week consultation on potential changes to its civil information powers, with a focus on the way it which it requests information from third parties, and the penalty regime

Due to the introduction of the EU Anti-Tax Avoidance Directive (ATAD) before Brexit, the government plans to amend the tax rules on controlled foreign companies (CFCs) to ensure ongoing compliance

The government plans to amend the rules on the treatment of hybrid mismatches to ensure UK rules are aligned with the EU Anti-Tax Avoidance Directive (ATAD), with draft legislation set out in Finance Bill 2018-19

HMRC plans to overhaul the penalties for late payments by businesses and individuals for corporation tax, income tax and self assessment, using a brand new points-based system

The government will go ahead with plans to abolish receipt checking for benchmark scale rates and changes to overseas scale rates, to simplify expenses related to travel

HMRC is consulting on technical amendments to the corporate interest restriction (CIR) rules, which have been updated as part of the government’s package of wider changes to ensure business profits are taxed in the location in which economic activity takes place

The decision to extend the assessment time limit to 12 years gives too much power to HMRC with the tax authority already being handed a huge volume of data from the Common Reporting Standard , warns Dawn Register, partner in the tax resolution team at BDO

The government is going ahead with rules to support charities with a Gift Aid measure to simplify the donor benefits rules, due to come into force from April 2019, pending approval of draft Finance Bill 2018-19 

The government is clamping down on abuse of rent-a-room relief with new rules on shared occupancy to ensure the tax relief is used for lodgers, not as a boost for gig economy renters, from April 2019

The government has issued draft Finance Bill 2018-19, including draft legislation for at least 33 significant measures affecting employment tax, simplification of Gift Aid, company car tax liability, Making Tax Digital penalty regime and new rules for tax under IFRS 16 Leases, reports Sara White

The government is consulting on draft legislation to introduce statutory powers to implement an EU directive on tax dispute resolution mechanisms to reduce double taxation risks across EU member states

Andy White, senior partner at CBW, examines whether the tax authority’s latest attempts to clampdown on tax avoidance through a curb on profit fragmentation are really necessary and, more importantly, how they could fundamentally infringe upon taxpayers’ rights

HMRC has opened a six-week technical consultation on draft secondary legislation for a VAT reverse charge on certain construction services, which is intended to remove the opportunity for fraudsters to charge VAT and then go missing before paying it over to the Exchequer

Government plans to extend offshore time limits for non-tax compliance to minimum 12 years have been met with strong opposition, says CIOT technical officer Margaret Curran CTA