Pat Sweet is online reporter at Accountancy Daily and contributor to the monthly Accountancy magazine, published by Croner-i, covering news stories as they happen each day. With a background in specialist business publications, Pat covers tax, audit and accounting, as well as management consultancy and IT, and is now focused primarily on developments in the accounting and finance markets. Contact Pat Sweet
The Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) is proposing putting a price cap on the fees claims management companies (CMCs) charge their customers in relation to claims for financial products and services, potentially saving consumers some £9.6m a year
Top twenty player Moore Kingston Smith, the London firm of the Moore UK network, has acquired the audit and accounting business of tax specialist Frank Hirth
With just a week to go until the 31 January tax self assessment deadline, scammers posing as HMRC are using various scams to try to defraud people, ICAEW has warned
To assist accountants, tax advisers and auditors in dealing with the coronavirus crisis, all our related covid-19 coverage will be available here as soon as new announcements are made, plus expert analysis
The BBC is facing an uncertain financial future, with significant challenges to its main source of income, and the need to introduce greater savings, according to the National Audit Office (NAO)
Continuing Covid-19 restrictions have seen Accountex London – the UK’s flagship accounting and finance conference and exhibition – postponed until May 2022
The number of UK businesses now in significant financial distress has jumped by 13%, but administrations last year fell to historic lows as government support measures offered a pandemic lifeline for many companies
More than half of companies reporting in the last six months paid no bonuses to executives, indicating boards are following investor guidance and demonstrating restraint when making decisions on executive pay amid Covid-19
The value of penalties HMRC is imposing on taxpayers each month shot up in the last six months, following the lull in compliance activities during the first lockdown, according to analysis by tax investigation insurance specialist PfP
The government is to provide up to £23m of funding for seafood exporters across the UK, to support businesses which have been most adversely affected by the Covid pandemic and the challenges of adjusting to new regulatory requirements for exporting post-Brexit
A review commissioned by the Department of Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy (BEIS) has recommended improvements to the way in which independent board evaluations are carried out in the UK listed sector
MPs have criticised HMRC’s response to the Covid-19 crisis, claiming some groups of taxpayers have been unfairly excluded from support packages, while the department’s strategy for property and IT systems has been shown to be wanting
The value and volume of fraud cases heard in UK courts fell steeply last year, despite lockdown fraudsters taking advantage of consumer uncertainty during the pandemic, according to research by KPMG
ACCA has added its voice to calls for HMRC to extend the deadline for self-assessment tax returns on January 31, with the professional body warning that failure to do so could land millions of hard-hit entrepreneurs with fines totalling £250m
Under reforms to the Prompt Payment Code (PPC), the required payment period for larger suppliers to small businesses is to be halved to 30 days, with commitments to be made personally by CEOs or finance directors