What is tax avoidance?
There is a distinction to be drawn between tax avoidance and tax evasion. Tax evasion is illegal and describes a situation where someone acts to deliberately evade tax. This could include deliberately submitting false tax returns, falsely claiming repayments or reliefs or hiding income, gains or
Right to Buy home scheme extended
The Right to Buy scheme has been available in various guises since it was first launched in the 1980s and following a relaunch in 2012. In essence the scheme gives qualifying social tenants the opportunity to buy their rented home at a discount.
There is a maximum discount of 70% of the value of
New grant opportunities for farmers
New grant opportunities to help farmers have been announced. The new grants will help farmers boost their businesses and add extra value to their produce. The Adding Value grant opened for applications on 9 June 2022 and will close at midnight on 21 July 2022. The funding will be offered in sums
Business Start Up Loans
Financing a new Start Up business is one of the most crucial aspects of helping a new venture to succeed. Obtaining finance for a new business can be an arduous process. For example, borrowing money from a mainstream bank may not be an option or only possible with security conditions such as a
Tax and duties on goods sent from abroad
There are special rules to ensure that goods sent from abroad are taxed appropriately and thus not disadvantage UK businesses supplying goods in the UK, for example, by having to compete with VAT free imports. This includes goods that are new or used and bought online, bought abroad and shipped to
Changes in State Pension age
The State Pension age is currently 66 and two further increases are set out in legislation: a gradual rise to 67 for those born on or after April 1960; and a gradual rise to 68 between 2044 and 2046 for those born on or after April 1977.
In March 2016, John Cridland CBE, the former Director
Till fraud targeted by HMRC
In the Autumn Budget 2018, the government announced that they would launch a call for evidence to learn more about the nature and scale of till fraud. This specifically looked at businesses that deliberately undertake electronic sales suppression (ESS). ESS occurs when a business deliberately
Stamp duty refunds scam
Over the past few years, there have been some interesting opportunities for making claims for Stamp Duty Land Tax (SDLT) refund claims. It should be noted that to be successful, these claims must meet quite specific criteria. For example, there may be scope for landlords and property investors to
Claiming for mobile phones
When an employer incurs costs for the provision of mobile phones to employees it is important to understand the correct tax treatment of these expenses. This includes costs for phones provided to employees and reimbursement of employee’s own phone costs.
As a general rule, the provision of one
Customs declaration service update
The Customs Declaration Service (CDS) is a new custom’s IT platform that has been designed to modernise the process for completing customs declarations for businesses that import or export goods from the UK. A phased launch of the service started in August 2018. The CDS is used for making import and