The Irish government has confirmed receipt of €14.3bn (£12.7bn) from Apple, marking full recovery of the disputed state aid offered to the tech giant, which the EU ruled was an illegal ‘sweetheart’ tax deal more than two years ago

The government's reversal on the proposed abolition of Class 2 national insurance contributions for the self-employed has been greeted with general dismay but it should be a cause for celebration, says George Bull, senior tax partner at RSM

Despite recent statistics showing revenue raised by inheritance tax on the increase, Nigel May CTA, senior tax partner at MHA MacIntyre Hudson, argues that the tax is too complicated from the residence nil rate band and taper relief to complexity around the seven-year gifting rules

The House of Lords has issued a two-week call for evidence into the extension of HMRC powers as part of government plans for Making Tax Digital set out in the draft Finance Bill 2018

Republicans in the US House of Representatives have proposed more deficit-expanding tax cuts in a bid to garner votes before the mid-term elections on 6 November 2018

As part of its open inquiry into the use of the retail price index (RPI) in assessing government debt repayments and indirect taxes, the economic affairs committee quizzed Chancellor Philip Hammond during a meeting

The confusion surrounding the tax status of platform workers has led to the Office of Tax Simplification (OTS) proposing significant changes to bring them their status into line with PAYE, says Lee Hamilton, partner at Blick Rothenberg

The government has announced that it is not going to proceed as planned with the abolition of Class 2 national insurance contributions (NICs), which was originally scheduled for April 2018, then delayed to April 2019

HMRC has been criticised by MPs regarding the standards of data protection it maintained while collecting biometric data on customers for security purposes, a process that generated complaints from taxpayers, at a PAC hearing into HMRC performance

Tax reforms are accelerating worldwide, with the trend towards pushing down corporate tax rates in order to boost investment gaining momentum over the last two years, according to analysis from the OECD

Labour leader Jeremy Corbyn has indicated his party is considering the introduction of new taxes on digital media providers in order to provide funding for more traditional media outlets including local newspapers and broadcasters and ensure a ‘free and democratic’ media

The lack of progress on agreement on a trading model and customs arrangements post-Brexit highlights the inherent differences between current EU trade and the customs rules governing non-EU trade. David McGeachy, partner and national head of VAT at Saffery Champness explains

The Chancellor has indicated he will be announcing proposals for new tax measures to reduce the use of plastics at Budget 2018, after the Treasury received 162,000 responses, the highest in its history, to a recent call for evidence on how the tax system can be used to reduce plastic waste

Suggestions that the government is planning a new ‘sin tax’ on vaping, in order to raise an additional £40m in tax revenue to help fund its commitment to a £20bn boost in NHS funding, have been strongly opposed by the UK Vaping Industry Association (UKVIA) on the grounds the move risks damaging public health

The UK government has signed its largest ever tax partnership programme to help Ethiopia transform its tax system to increase its annual revenues so that it can better finance its own services and development, becoming less reliant on aid