Opinion

Shirley McIntosh, RSM’s head of tax in Scotland, details the importance of tax during an election campaign. Five years ago tax was a hot topic in the Scottish Parliamentary election. How the newly devolved tax powers would be used to deliver policy was part of every party’s manifesto. Bu

Gillian MacLellan, an employment law specialist and partner at CMS, discusses how companies can report their ethnicity pay gap. Unlike gender pay gap reporting, it is not currently mandatory for any business or organisation to report on ethnic-based disparities in pay levels. Despite a government co

Lyn Calder, managing partner, Edinburgh and head of family business at Anderson Anderson & Brown (AAB), discusses the importance of succession planning for family businesses.  Family businesses come in all sorts of guises, with varying internal challenges and external market forces.

Iain Penman, senior associate at Brodies LLP, discusses fiduciary duties and why they may still apply after a director resigns. Did you know that a director's fiduciary duties can still apply, even after they have resigned? This was the situation in the recent case BVI case of Byres v Chen ) where a

Tim Cooper, chair of insolvency and restructuring trade body R3 in Scotland, has said that the low levels of corporate and personal insolvencies in Scotland over the last year cannot last forever.  The number of corporate insolvencies (liquidations and receiverships) in Scotland fell by 31

Stuart Patrick, chief executive of Glasgow Chamber of Commerce, highlights the need for a plan of action for Scotland's airports in the wake of the coronavirus pandemic. It is common ground amongst the various political parties that the next Scottish Parliament must tackle recovery from the pandemic

Stuart Gillies, an associate with law firm Dentons, highlights how the declining use of cash as a result of the coronavirus pandemic has resulted in an increase in confidence in financial technology. It’s been over a year now since we first locked down, when shaking hands and meeting a colleag

Craig Alexander Rattray, a Glasgow-based growth strategist and founder of CR Corporate Solutions, reveals why the Scottish consumer is unlikely to splash their cash when the retail sector reopens its doors today. Too much uncertainty still exists over the effects of coronavirus to prompt any sp

Iain Penman, senior associate in litigation at Brodies LLP, explains the advantages and disadvantages of a Minimal Asset Process (MAP) bankruptcy in Scotland. Bankruptcy, or sequestration as its often called in Scotland, is governed by the Bankruptcy (Scotland) Act 2016 and is available to people, p

Ian McMonagle, taxation director at business advisory firm Russell & Russell, highlights HMRC’s plan to track down those who have fraudulently claimed money during the pandemic. Chancellor Rishi Sunak’s largesse in support of UK businesses throughout the Covid-19 pandemic has led to

Neil Bradbrook, managing director of Falkirk-based Ahead Business Consulting, examines what lessons can be learned for businesses from the Europe Super League debacle. The fans have prevailed and the short-lived European Super League is no more. The lure of a share in the big bucks the league promis

Helen Brand, chief executive of the Association of Chartered Certified Accountants (ACCA), discusses how the association is marking Earth Day this year. This year, Earth Day is themed ‘restore the earth’ and here at ACCA we’re marking this occasion by focusing on the vital role the

Rupert Thompson, chief investment officer at wealth management group Kingswood, discusses rebounding global economies and the resumption of value. Equities continued their strong run last week with global markets gaining a further 0.8% to be up 10.7% since the start of the year. The US reporting sea

Fraser Kane looks at the shape of things to come for non-transferable debt securities. On 19 April 2021, the Treasury launched an open consultation concerning the future regulation of the issuance of non-transferable debt securities (NTDS), also commonly known as “mini-bonds” in the

Scott Reid, assistant tax manager at Turcan Connell, highlights the complexities of cryptocurrency taxation. On the 21st February 2021 the most renowned cryptoasset ‘Bitcoin’ rose to an all time high of over £41,000 per coin. The highs are starting to become more frequent and more