The Association of Chartered Certified Accountants (ACCA) has called on HMRC to explain why it needs more powers to deal with taxpayers and advisers who are fraudulent and dishonest. Responding to a consultation by the UK tax authority on introducing a criminal offence by making reckless untrue stat
Tax
Former NatWest chairman and financial regulator Sir Howard Davies has launched a scathing attack on the UK's banking framework, claiming that post financial crisis ring-fencing was a "completely useless regulatory intervention" that has "emasculated UK investment banking." Speaking as ministers weig
Scotland generated a record £98.3 billion in revenue during 2025-26: an annual increase of £6.3 billion (6.9%), according to the Scottish Government. The revenue per person in Scotland at £17,718 was similar to the UK average of £17,720 in the same year, when revenue from the
Andy Burnham’s ‘missing’ economic advisers signals major risk for UK markets, warns deVere group CEO
Andy Burnham's absent economic advisers are a warning sign for UK investors, according to one of the world's largest independent financial advisory organisations.
Income Tax and National Insurance have emerged as the taxes most urgently in need of reform, according to the first post-Scottish election poll of ICAS (Institute of Chartered Accountants of Scotland) members. New findings show that more than twice as many Chartered Accountants (39%) identified Inco
Savers are being wrongly ordered to pay thousands of pounds in tax due to flawed calculations by HM Revenue & Customs (HMRC). Under rules introduced in 2016, financial institutions are required to report savers' annual interest earnings directly to the tax authority. This allows HMRC to automati
UK taxpayers have handed over £938.8 billion in tax in 2024/25, a 9.3% rise on the previous year, according to HMRC's annual bulletin, as frozen thresholds and rising asset values are quietly eroding household wealth. Inheritance tax receipts reached a new record high of just under £8.5b
Taxes on UK workers increased at the fastest rate among the world's wealthiest economies last year, according to the Organisation for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD). The Paris-based organisation's annual study of taxes across the developed world found that Britain's "tax wedge", which m
This Monday has marked the start of the 2026/27 tax year, and with it has brought some modest income tax changes for Scottish taxpayers. As a result of the plans agreed by MSPs in February, the level of income at which Scottish taxpayers begin to pay more income tax than someone with equivalent earn
Around 300,000 people working from home in the UK will lose their annual home working allowance from this Monday (April 6th). Research by Azets, which has offices in Aberdeen, Ayr, Edinburgh, Glasgow, Inverness and Perth, shows that HMRC estimates the abolition measure for homeworkers will save &pou
Tax expert Tony Cochrane discusses HM Revenue & Customs' (HMRC) recent shift from a lenient enforcement period to a strict compliance regime regarding the VAT Domestic Reverse Charge (DRC) within the construction industry, outlining the specific criteria for its application and offering practica
The UK government has secured a record-breaking windfall from inheritance tax as receipts surged to £7.1 billion between April 2025 and January 2026. This £100 million year-on-year increase, documented by HMRC, stems from a combination of appreciating asset values and long-term stagnatio
A complicated tax relief aimed at encouraging companies to commercialise their innovations within the UK is in dire need of reform because it favours the few, according to Azets. Reform of the Patent Box scheme is said to be long overdue because it is reportedly beyond the understanding of many busi
Azets has said the Scottish Government should use tomorrow's Budget to bring tax bands in line with those south of the border. Donald Parbrook, tax partner with the accountancy and business advisory firm said: "While our fiscal position may leave Shona Robison, the outgoing SNP finance minister, wit
The number of people using the HMRC app to pay their Self Assessment tax bill has increased by nearly 65%, according to new figures. Almost 340,000 people have used it to pay since 6 April 2025, an increase of 132,788 people compared to the same period last year.
