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Tax | Budget 2016: higher stamp duty land tax rates for commercial property transactions

In his Budget speech, the Chancellor has announced changes to stamp duty land tax (SDLT) rates on freehold commercial property and leasehold premium transactions, with changes in the way the tax is calculated to introduce a slice-based approach

16 Mar 2016

Tax | Budget 2016: R&D tax relief rules for SMEs tweaked to clarify state aid cap

Due to recent changes to the large company research and development (R&D) tax relief scheme, the government has been forced to issue revised rules for small to medium sized companies (SMEs) claiming R&D tax relief to ensure the scheme falls within EU state aid rules

16 Mar 2016

Tax | Budget 2016: shake-up of entrepreneurs relief and £10m lifetime limit on gains

In a bid to encourage investment in start-ups and entrepreneurs, the government removed some barriers to the use of entrepreneurs’ relief making it easier for business owners to pass on companies and farms to family members, and created a long-term £10m lifetime limit for investors

16 Mar 2016

Tax | Budget 2016: extending voluntary payrolling of benefits in kind

The Budget contained a measure to amend primary legislation to allow HMRC to make changes to the PAYE regulations to enable the voluntary payrolling of non-cash vouchers and credit tokens, in order to reduce employers’ reporting obligations and reduce errors

16 Mar 2016

Tax | Budget 2016: CGT exemption limit on employee shareholders

There is to be a lifetime limit of £100,000 on the Capital Gains Tax (CGT) exempt gains that an individual can make on the disposal of shares acquired under employee shareholder agreements as part of moves to clamp down on tax evasion announced in the Budget

16 Mar 2016

Tax | Budget 2016: Lifetime ISA to encourage under 40s to save

In his Budget, the Chancellor has announced an increase in the existing ISA limit to £20,000 and the launch of a new product, the flexible Lifetime ISA, which will allow those aged under 40 to save up to £4,000 each year and receive an additional 25% bonus from government, although there are criticisms that it adds to saving complexity

16 Mar 2016

Tax | Budget 2016: SDLT levy for property companies with 15 plus properties confirmed

The government has confirmed that the higher rate stamp duty land tax (SDLT) levy for second home purchases and buy-to-let landlords will be extended to property companies with 15 or more properties

16 Mar 2016

Tax | Budget 2016: higher rate personal threshold raised to £45k

In his Budget speech, Chancellor George Osborne announced a much-trailed rise in the higher rate threshold for 40% rate taxpayers while the basic tax-free allowance will also rise in 2017

16 Mar 2016

Tax | Budget 2016: sugar tax for fizzy drink manufacturers

Chancellor George Osborne has pulled a rabbit out of the hat by announcing a new ‘sugar tax’ in his eighth Budget today, saying that excessive sugar consumption was associated with growing health problems costing the economy an estimated £27bn a year but consumers will not be hit initially

16 Mar 2016

Tax | Budget 2016: Class 2 NICs abolished for self-employed

As trailed and extensively consulted on after the Autumn Statement last November, the Chancellor confirmed plans to cut national insurance contributions (NICs) for 3.4m self-employed people, by abolishing Class 2 National Insurance from April 2018

16 Mar 2016

Tax | Budget 2016: £15m pledge to support driverless cars

There was some surprise that the Chancellor rejected the opportunity to announce an increase in fuel duty in the Budget, but he has signalled his intention to make the UK a global centre for excellence in connected and driverless vehicles

16 Mar 2016

Tax

Budget

Image for kreston reeves and spofforths merger creates ps31m accounting firm

Business | Kreston Reeves and Spofforths merger creates £31m accounting firm

Southeast accounting firms Kreston Reeves and Spofforths are to merge, creating a merged practice with a projected combined revenue of £30.9m, placing it among the top 25 firms in the UK on completion of the merger in June

16 Mar 2016

Business

Accountancy Firms

Leadership & Management

Careers

Image for us chasing 130m undeclared offshore accounts cayman islands

Tax | US chasing $130m in undeclared offshore accounts in Cayman Islands

Two financial institutions based in the Cayman Islands have pleaded guilty in a US court to helping US taxpayers hide more than $130m (£92m) in offshore accounts in order to evade taxes, and could be forced to reveal the names of account holders, in the first conviction of a non-Swiss financial institution

16 Mar 2016

Business | ICAEW set to regulate solicitors acting as insolvency practitioners

ICAEW is to take over elements of the regulation of solcitors who act as insolvency practitioners as the Solicitors Regulation Authority (SRA) withdraws from regulation of this sector in a bid to improve consumer protection

16 Mar 2016

Business

Companies

Restructuring & Insolvency

Law & Guidance

Accountancy Firms

Leadership & Management

Careers

Image for arsenal and barcelona fc lead uefa football club money league

Business | Arsenal and Barcelona FC lead UEFA football club money league

Tonight’s UEFA Champions League second-leg crunch match between Arsenal and Barcelona features the two clubs with the highest combined revenues in the competition, according to analysis by Deloitte which says the pair score a total of €996.3m (£782.6m) in total income, the highest ever for two clubs competing in a round 16 (R16) tie

16 Mar 2016

Business

Companies

Image for meps grill apple and google over tax deals eu member states

Tax | MEPs grill Apple and Google over tax deals with EU member states

Apple and Google have denied entering into tax arrangements to avoid paying tax in the EU and seeking to benefit from illegal state aid at a hearing of the European parliament’s special committee on tax rulings which summoned a number of multinationals to discuss corporate taxation

16 Mar 2016

Tax | Budget 2016: insurance premium tax up 0.5%

Despite speculation that the tax on insurance premiums could be a target in his latest Budget, Chancellor George Osborne has announced that the hike will be lower than anticipated, at 0.5%

16 Mar 2016

Tax | Budget 2016: repeal of the renewals allowance for property businesses

The government plans to withdraw the renewals allowance, which provides traders and property businesses with tax relief for the cost of replacing tools

16 Mar 2016

Tax | Budget 2016: finance costs restriction for landlords for deceased persons' estates

The government has issued a clarification on the basic tax reduction on finance costs for landlords confirming that the basic rate tax reduction is available to beneficiaries of deceased persons’ estates

16 Mar 2016

Tax

Property Tax

Budget

Tax | Budget 2016: ‘sharing economy’ tax reliefs

Saying that this was a Budget ‘for the digital age’, Chancellor George Osborne has announced new tax reliefs for individuals using online services such as eBay and Airbnb to earn income in the fast-growing sharing economy

16 Mar 2016

15 Mar 2016

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Tax | Extension of farmers’ averaging to five years

Finance Bill 2016 is set to introduce an option for farmers to average their trading profits over a five-year period and to simplify the existing two-year averaging rules by removing marginal relief. Meg Wilson considers the tax implications

15 Mar 2016

Tax

Business Tax

Tax Compliance

Image for hmrc fixes scottish s tax code data uploading problem paye employers

Tax | HMRC fixes Scottish S tax code data uploading problem for PAYE employers

Following an IT problem with coding out for employers setting up the new Scottish S tax code, HMRC has now fixed the problem that stopped Scottish P9s appearing in third party software or the PAYE Desktop Viewer

15 Mar 2016

Tax | Tougher code of conduct for tax advisers at advanced stage to address aggressive tax planning

Plans to tighten up the code of conduct for tax advisers are understood to be at an advanced stage with the professional institutes keen to strengthen the rules on acceptable tax planning to avert the imposition of a regulatory framework for tax advisers by the government

15 Mar 2016

14 Mar 2016

Image for stamp duty levy drives buy let prices april hike

Tax | Stamp duty levy drives up buy-to-let prices before April hike

The imminent rise in stamp duty land tax (SDLT) for buy to let and second home purchasers, due to come into effect from April, is having a marked impact on the UK housing market, driving prices up in the buy-to-let sector ahead of the deadline for the introduction of the new tax, shows the latest Royal Institution of Chartered Surveyors (RICS) figures

14 Mar 2016

Tax | Taxpayers fail to apply for marriage allowance tax break

Low take-up of the marriage allowance means that married couples and civil partners are missing out on £212 of tax for the current tax year, the measure which was launched by the government in March 2015 but has failed to attract much interest from taxpayers

14 Mar 2016

Finance | Rural Payments Agency extends accountants certificate scope to AAT members

AAT accredited accountants are now able to process Rural Payments Agency accountants certificates and complete forms on behalf of ‘active farmers’ who qualify for the Basic Payments Scheme (BPS), one of the EU's largest farm subsidies

14 Mar 2016

| Auditors urged to reduce complexity of corporate reports

Auditors need to work together to agree ways to reduce the complexity in corporate reports and make them more meaningful, according to a report from ICAEW which says collective action is necessary because company reports are still too long and fail to meet the needs of key stakeholders

14 Mar 2016

Corporate Governance

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Finance | KPMG to take over WS Atkins audit from PwC

WS Atkins has signalled its intention to appoint KPMG as its independent auditor, ending the multinational listed engineering company’s 20-year relationship with Big Four competitor, PwC

14 Mar 2016

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Latest news

Tax | Budget 2016: higher stamp duty land tax rates for commercial property transactions

Tax | Budget 2016: R&D tax relief rules for SMEs tweaked to clarify state aid cap

Tax | Budget 2016: shake-up of entrepreneurs relief and £10m lifetime limit on gains

Tax | Budget 2016: extending voluntary payrolling of benefits in kind

Tax | Budget 2016: CGT exemption limit on employee shareholders

Tax | Budget 2016: Lifetime ISA to encourage under 40s to save

Tax | Budget 2016: SDLT levy for property companies with 15 plus properties confirmed

Tax | Budget 2016: higher rate personal threshold raised to £45k

Tax | Budget 2016: sugar tax for fizzy drink manufacturers

Tax | Budget 2016: Class 2 NICs abolished for self-employed

Tax | Budget 2016: £15m pledge to support driverless cars

Business | Kreston Reeves and Spofforths merger creates £31m accounting firm

Tax | US chasing $130m in undeclared offshore accounts in Cayman Islands

Business | ICAEW set to regulate solicitors acting as insolvency practitioners

Business | Arsenal and Barcelona FC lead UEFA football club money league

Tax | MEPs grill Apple and Google over tax deals with EU member states

Tax | Budget 2016: insurance premium tax up 0.5%

Tax | Budget 2016: repeal of the renewals allowance for property businesses

Tax | Budget 2016: finance costs restriction for landlords for deceased persons' estates

Tax | Budget 2016: ‘sharing economy’ tax reliefs

Tax | Extension of farmers’ averaging to five years

Tax | HMRC fixes Scottish S tax code data uploading problem for PAYE employers

Tax | Tougher code of conduct for tax advisers at advanced stage to address aggressive tax planning

Tax | Stamp duty levy drives up buy-to-let prices before April hike

Tax | Taxpayers fail to apply for marriage allowance tax break

Finance | Rural Payments Agency extends accountants certificate scope to AAT members

| Auditors urged to reduce complexity of corporate reports

Finance | KPMG to take over WS Atkins audit from PwC