Posts By: ilyas Patel

In an attempt to catch out tax evaders, HMRC is using Google’s Street View application as a monitoring tool to assess those suspected of tax evasion. It is believed by the HMRC, that there is a large discrepancy between what people are earning and declaring and they are determind to recoup some of the loss. … Read more »

A new select committee is to be formed by the House of Lords to look into the use of personal service companies and their impact on tax collection. Area scrutinised by the committee will include; the extent to which staff are engaged through personal service companies in the public sector and whether doing so is… Read more »

In April 2013, the UK cut it’s top rate of Income Tax from 50% to 45%.  The cut was the largest single tax cut anywhere in the world and the UK went from 5th to 11th in the EU table of countries with the highest top rate of tax and to 18th in the world. It… Read more »

In this weeks latest episode of Downton Abbey (tv drama series) viewers are able to use the unfolding events surrounding Lord Grantham’s plans for his estate as a lesson in tax preparation. A partner to a fan of the Downton Abbey series, Catherine Desmond, has recently written a blog which provides a modern-day commentary on the tax,… Read more »

According to new research, HMRC have made a number of tax code errors since they introduced their computer system in 2009. The errors have meant that one in three taxpayers have not been paying the right amount of tax.  One of the most common mistakes made by HMRC is failing to tax employee benefits, such… Read more »

It has been identified, through an HMRC trial that was looking into ways to reduce tax fraud and error, that £20m of potential losses after 5,500 cases from a sample of £16,000 showed irregularities. As part of the taxman’s strategy to tackle the problem of tax credit fraud and error, he plans to use “sophiticated… Read more »

There has been much criticism of banks, by politicians and the media for not lending enough to businesses, especially since the credit crunch, but there are many alternatives to the mainstream bank loan. Sadly, there seems to be a lack of awareness within business finance of the options that are available and an Accountant or… Read more »

Official figures are showing that the inheritance tax (IHT) is taking a strong climb again.  Families have paid more that £3bn in IHT, the biggest sum since the onset of the credit crisis.  An increase on focus by the HMRC on the collection of IHT could explain the rise. The Office of National Statistics (ONS) showed the… Read more »

James Gandolfinin, one of the Soprano stars who died last month left an estate worth an estimated $70m. It has been well publicised, since his death that the US Government will be hitting hard on his estate for death taxes of approx $30m.  Gandolfini’s  estate was made up from a range of assets and the… Read more »

HMRC have launched taskforces in the holiday and restraurant industry.  Businesses in the holiday industry, operating within Blackpool, the Lake District, North Wales, Devon and Cornwall and restaurants in the North East area are to be targeted, with a combined expected yield of approx £8.8m. HMRC has collected more than £80m through the use of targeted… Read more »