EXCLUSIVE: Number of firms fined for deliberate corporation tax misinformation hits four-year high August 22, 2022 The number of businesses fined by HMRC for deliberately obscuring their corporation tax affairs has climbed to its highest level in four years, exclusive figures obtained by City PM reveal. The tax man last year penalised 62 firms for purposefully sending incorrect information to possibly slash the amount of corporation tax they pay, up 35 [...]
Whistleblowers play key role in crackdown on furlough fraud as HMRC gets nearly 14,000 tip-offs August 16, 2022 13,775 whistleblower reports have now been received by HMRC about fraud against the furlough scheme as people report their employers, and ex-employers, City lawyers have told City PM HMRC is now stepping up its enforcement activity with a view to recovery, issuing penalties and pursuing prosecution or directors disqualifications where appropriate. There were many complex [...]
Economic slowdown set to hit legal sectors’ bumper profits, new research shows August 11, 2022 The past year’s boom in dealmaking acted as a boon to the UK’s legal sector in leading to a major uptick in work for British clients. However, the economic downturn could reverse law firms’ fortunes and dent their profitability, new research from Thomson Reuters shows. Global law firms operating in the UK market saw their [...]
Axiom founder sentenced to 14 years in prison over £100m ‘no win, no fee’ investment fraud August 11, 2022 The founder of a Cayman Islands headquartered fund, that bankrolled ‘no win, no fee’ lawsuits, has been jailed for 14 years for using millions in investors cash to finance his own extravagant spending habits. Axiom Legal Financing Fund founder Timothy Schools was today sentenced to 14 years in prison at a hearing at Southwark Crown [...]
Sunak launches fresh attack on Truss’s tax cut plans warning Brits will face higher mortgage payments August 4, 2022 Ahead of the Tory leadership hopefuls next debate in their quest to become prime minister, Rishi Sunak launched a fresh attack on Liz Truss’s plans for tax cuts. The former chancellor said his Foreign Secretary rival in the Tory leadership race would further drive up interest rates, raising mortgage payments, with her plans. His warning [...]
Rishi Sunak under fire for ‘flip-flopping’ on tax after promising to cut VAT on energy bills July 27, 2022 Tory leadership hopeful Rishi Sunak has been accused of “flip-flopping” on tax after pledging to cut VAT on energy bills and interrupting his rival Liz Truss in two debates in recent days. It came after the Tory leadership hopeful unveiled plans to remove VAT from domestic energy bills for a year if the price cap [...]
HMRC in crackdown on tax return mistakes as taxman hands out 80 per cent more penalties July 20, 2022 HMRC handed out 80 per cent more penalties for careless errors made by taxpayers in their tax returns last year, with 89,317 penalties issued in 2021/22, up from 49,701 the previous year. Some of the penalties issued for ‘careless errors’ are likely to be for mistakes made in returns filed during the pandemic. While the [...]
HMRC takes tougher stance towards tax evasion following Covid and war in Ukraine July 19, 2022 The UK government is taking an increasingly tough stance towards tax evaders, according to new analysis from Pinsent Mason, in a sign HMRC is taking an increasingly tough stance towards tax evaders in its efforts to balance the UK’s books, lawyers have said. The number of individual taxpayers charged with tax evasion jumped 11 per [...]
New Chancellor Nadhim Zahawi in spat with Bank of England’s Andrew Bailey: ‘I’m just setting out my stall as prime minister!’ July 12, 2022 Chancellor Nadhim Zahawi insisted this morning it was appropriate for him to set out tax proposals during his Tory leadership race after criticism from Bank of England Governor Andrew Bailey. He told BBC Breakfast this a.m.: “I’m just setting out my stall as prime minister! And I have fully costed these pledges, and I’ll be [...]
£134bn: Biggest rise in tax receipts since 2000 gives chancellor room to make cuts July 11, 2022 The new chancellor of the exchequer may have leeway for tax cuts, after a £134bn spike in so-called ‘stealth ‘ taxes. There was the biggest increase in receipts since the turn of the century over the last 12 months, up to £718bn, representing a 23 per cent increase on the previous year. The rise from [...]
