With less than a year until the rollout of Making Tax Digital for VAT reporting becomes mandatory, HMRC has signed up two more software providers for the income tax pilot

In a bid to close the tax gap and chase up recalcitrant taxpayers, HMRC has ramped up spending on private sector debt collectors by 62% in the last year to reach £39m, compared to £24m in 2016

A sharp rise in the number of scam emails and text messages targeting taxpayers has been flagged by HMRC, with renewed warnings that criminals are attempting to trick the public into thinking they have received a tax rebate so they hand over their account and personal details

The Internal Revenue Service (IRS) is being pressed to adopt new online systems after the US House of Representatives passed legislation intended to introduce digital services and require the tax authority to appoint a chief information officer (CIO), in the wake of technical problems which saw the tax payments system crash on deadline day

HMRC has acknowledged that its digital transformation programme has not ‘all been smooth sailing’ and says the need to refocus priorities to meet the demands of Brexit mean it will delay plans to introduce more digital services for individuals

While VAT is now at the forefront of HMRC plans for the rollout of Making Tax Digital (MTD), digital reporting will apply to all the main taxes in future and will impact all UK taxpayers. Ian Carpenter and John Forth, VAT partners at RSM, explain potential pitfalls and considerations for businesses and accountants

As HMRC launches its Making Tax Digital income tax pilot Sara White, editor at Accountancy, discusses the lack of communication on HMRC's behalf and considers why sole traders were chosen to test the software first

This month's review of tax cases and tax news including Making Tax Digital extended to income tax, changes to termination tax payments, copy Third party information notice was required by HMRC, penalties for late return were invalid

HMRC has signalled it is extending its flagship Making Tax Digital initiative to include income tax reporting, by offering self employed individuals and their agents the opportunity to join a pilot for using software to keep business record digitally and send income tax updates to HMRC, instead of filing a self assessment tax return

Among the slew of consultations announced in the Spring Statement this week, the decision to review the VAT threshold is perhaps one of the most important. Yvette Nunn (Fellow) ATT (Fellow) MAAT, director of Berkeley Associates, considers the complexities of overhauling the threshold 

There is general agreement that the Chancellor’s first spring statement, scheduled for Tuesday 13 March, is unlikely to contain any new policy measures, but looks to set to announce a raft of consultations and an update on the latest official economic and fiscal forecasts

With just over a year to go HMRC is stalling over key software decisions around Making Tax Digital for VAT leaving everyone concerned about whether software provision will be ready in time to allow for sufficient pre-launch testing, warns Androulla Soteri, tax development manager at MHA MacIntyre Hudson

Jon Thompson, chief executive of HMRC, is leading a major transformational change programme at the tax authority. In his latest HMRC blog, he outlines the priorities and challenges of digital transformation, from the ambitious Making Tax Digital overhaul to personal tax accounts and the risk of Brexit overload

CFOs no longer consider Excel as an essential skill and are more concerned about employees’ ability to adapt to new technologies, according to research by Adaptive Insights

This month's review of tax cases and tax news including bonds with euro forex clause were QCBs, loan note avoidance scheme fails in Cyclops Electronics, HMRC launches first pilot for businesses to start Making Tax Digital for VAT trial