The digital services tax (DST) announced in the Budget will lay a heavy compliance burden on businesses, especially when it comes to UK profit margins, argues Eloise Walker, partner at Pinsent Masons

A survey of tax professionals’ attitudes and company readiness for Making Tax Digital (MTD) for VAT shows that companies and accountants are lagging behind in their preparations and 70% are waiting for future announcements until they commit to a process

Ahead of the UK leaving the EU next March, HMRC and the Treasury have announced an £8m funding scheme for customs intermediaries and traders towards the cost of training and IT improvements required to handle imports and exports post-Brexit

The EU Economic and Financial Affairs Council (ECOFIN) has discussed the implementation of a digital services tax, with representatives disagreeing on how such a tax would work in practice and some countries calling for a delay until the OECD reaches a solution

Sports Direct founder Mike Ashley has claimed that the high street is ‘already dead’ due to the impact of the internet on consumers, and that the only way to redress the balance would be to institute a 20% tax on online sales and massive cuts to business rates

Tech giants are redoubling their opposition to moves by the European Parliament to update online copyright laws, amid claims that some of the new provisions amount to a ‘link tax’ for providers like Google who republish content

The government is strongly recommending that small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) make use of a £2,500 voucher to help with installing high-speed broadband and increase rural communities' access to the internet

Research by tax specialist Catax indicates that one quarter of businesses are unaware that they are eligible to claim tax relief under the Patent Box scheme, which provides corporation tax relief to innovators

The Treasury is going ahead with plans for a 2% tax on large online multinationals from 2020, including social media and search engine companies, to raise over £600m by 2022

Following a consultation on addressing tax compliance for those who use online platforms for selling, HMRC is to enhance its guidance and is working with international agencies to improve data collection from platforms hosted overseas

Making Tax Digital (MTD) should be seen as a chance for accountants to forge stronger links with clients, argues Nick Williams, head of UK accountants for Intuit QuickBooks

Chris Denning, head of international and corporate taxation at MHA MacIntyre Hudson, suggests that the US might retaliate against the UK’s digital services tax introduced in the Autumn Budget

The Chancellor’s plans to introduce a 2% digital services tax on large digital platforms, announced in the Budget, have come under fire in the US, with a strongly worded letter from the Chamber of Commerce to the US Treasury demanding the White House takes action to counter a ‘dangerous precedent’

A tax on large digital companies that operate within the UK or provide services to customers, including social media and online marketplaces, has been announced by the Chancellor, who denied that it would be a ‘digital sales tax’

The Treasury and HMRC are to plough £8m into a package of measures to support the customs intermediaries sector in preparing for potential capacity challenges with staff training and automation in the event of a ‘no deal’ Brexit next year