Business & Accountancy Daily

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Business | LinkedIn: tips and advice for accountants online

Whether accountants are newly qualified or well-established in accountancy, LinkedIn is a powerful platform to showcase skills and experience. Nicki Cresswell, wellbeing co-ordinator at CABA explains how to effectively use a LinkedIn profile to attract and connect with influential figures in the profession

21 Oct 2016

Tax | Consultations: Making Tax Digital - November 2016 closing dates

A roundup of current consultations from HMRC, with a summary of the key Making Tax Digital documents, which are set to close for feedback on 7 November

21 Oct 2016

Tax

Making Tax Digital

Consultations

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Tax | HMRC should shift focus to reducing tax error, says law firm

HMRC should prioritise reducing error and instances of failure to take reasonable care in order to make greater inroads into the tax gap, according to law firm Pinsent Masons

21 Oct 2016

Finance | FRC launches consultation on IFRS improvements to IAS 7

The Financial Reporting Council (FRC) is consulting on improvements to IAS 7, Statement of Cash Flows, a standard that has gone largely unchanged since it was introduced in 1992, which is the key IFRS standard and will affect future changes to FRS 102

21 Oct 2016

Finance | FRC wants better balance and tax transparency in reporting

The Financial Reporting Council is calling for companies to inject more balance into their reporting of their performance, and says the level of tax disclosures remains ‘disappointingly’ below best practice

21 Oct 2016

Business | Accountant lands jail sentence over beauty parlour brothel ‘extras’

An accountant from Stockport has been given a six month suspended jail sentence after admitting running a brothel used for prostitution, although the court was told the business from which it operated paid all income tax and National Insurance contributions due

21 Oct 2016

Business

Called to Account

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Finance | Charity Commission consults on reporting of serious incidents

The Charity Commission has launched a three month public consultation on proposals to update its guidance on how charities should report serious incidents, which provides examples around the reporting of incidents of significant financial loss

21 Oct 2016

Business

Charities

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| People in the news: BDO, Deloitte, MHA MacIntyre Hudson

In this week’s moves and appointments roundup, two partners appointed to BDO’s audit practice, Deloitte appoints a partner in its insurance practice, partner promotion at MHA MacIntyre Hudson

21 Oct 2016

Careers

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Finance | $2.5m SEC penalty for US technology company for accounting violations

A US technology solutions company has agreed to pay a $2.5m (£2.04m) penalty to the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) over charges that it overstated profits in one of its business segments, after two of its former executives broke accounting rules to meet internal targets

21 Oct 2016

Business | Scotland consults on draft independence referendum bill

The Scottish government is consulting on a draft bill giving Scotland the ability to reconsider the question of its independence before the UK leaves the EU, depending on the terms the Westminster government negotiates

21 Oct 2016

Business

Companies

Accountancy Firms

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Tax | OECD sets timeline for country profiles for cross-border tax disputes

The OECD has set the minimum standards it requires from countries submitting Mutual Agreement Procedure (MAP) profiles, with only 41 countries currently having a completed profile, which will be used as a tool for resolving cross-border tax disputes

21 Oct 2016

20 Oct 2016

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Finance | FRS 102: potential pitfalls of new UK GAAP - tips and advice

In part three of our exclusive new UK GAAP series, Helen Lloyd FCA considers practical tips for applying the requirements of Section 35 of FRS 102 and the importance of anticipating issues before they become too pressing

20 Oct 2016

Tax | Comment: accountants need government support not criticism

After accusations the Chancellor is too like an accountant in his attitude to Brexit, and the prime minister, Theresa May’s criticism of the accounting profession at the Conservative party conference, ACCA policy manager Anthony Walters calls for government support

20 Oct 2016

Leadership & Management

Careers

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Business | NAO to take closer inspection of NHS trusts’ financial sustainability

The National Audit Office (NAO) is to take a further look at the health of the NHS’s finances, following on from last year’s report which found that the deterioration of the financial position of NHS trusts and NHS foundation trusts had been ‘severe and worse than expected’

20 Oct 2016

Business

Companies

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Finance | EU’s anti-money laundering risk list ignores Panama Papers havens

The European Economic and Social Committee (EESC), an EU advisory body made up of workers' and employers' organisations, has heavily criticised the EU’s recently published list of high-risk third countries subject to enhanced due diligence measures in relation to anti-money laundering (AML)

20 Oct 2016

Finance

Law and Regulation

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Tax | Tax guidance for climate change agreements and state aid reporting

HMRC has issued guidance for companies which have climate change agreements (CCAs) and receive more than €500,000 (£447,000) a year in state aid through payments, with reporting requirements set to come in from April 2017

20 Oct 2016

Tax

HMRC

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Tax | Tax gap falls to record low at £36bn

The UK tax gap fell to 6.5% representing £36bn of lost tax in 2014-2015, heralded by HMRC as its lowest-ever level, below the newly revised figure for the previous year which is now put at £37bn

20 Oct 2016

Finance | September 2017 trial date for former Tesco executives

Three former Tesco senior executives, including former finance director Carl Rogberg, are to face trial in September next year on charges of fraud and false accounting relating to the £263m accounting misstatement discovered in the retailer’s accounts in 2014

20 Oct 2016

Finance

Law and Regulation

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Tax | Charities given partial LBTT relief in Scotland

Revenue Scotland has overturned its original stance on the use of partial charities relief for Scottish land and buildings transaction tax (LBTT), the equivalent to UK stamp duty, in cases where a charity is one of a number of buyers who are or will become common owners

20 Oct 2016

Tax | Grant Thornton calls for reform of complex tax system

Grant Thornton is backing calls for reform of the UK’s ‘excessively complex tax system’, amid claims that the tax code, which now stretches to 20,000 pages, represents a significant challenge to many companies

20 Oct 2016

Business | Government switch to shared service centres has upped costs, PAC says

MPs have slammed attempts by the Cabinet Office to cut costs by sharing back-office functions, after a report found a move to two shared service centres has resulted in net costs to the taxpayer going up, and says urgent action is required to halt further problems

20 Oct 2016

Business

Companies

Accountancy Firms

19 Oct 2016

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Tax | Why I decided to offload my buy-to-let property portfolio

Deciding to sell off a buy-to-let portfolio is not an easy decision but the combination of an increasingly punitive tax environment with the higher rate stamp duty levy and the removal of interest rate relief, together with reductions in the returns on equity, are forcing owners to take drastic decisions. Omkar Joshi, accountant and property investor, explains the rationale for his decision to bail out of property

19 Oct 2016

Business | Spinal Tap creator Shearer sues Vivendi over accounting for royalties

US comedian Harry Shearer has launched a $125m (£101m) lawsuit against French media group Vivendi over accounting for royalties derived from 1984 cult classic film This Is Spinal Tap

19 Oct 2016

Tax | Success for Ingenious in case against HMRC

Ingenious has won its latest case against HMRC after the Supreme Court ruled that previous HMRC chief and permanent secretary, Dave Harnett, unlawfully disclosed confidential information to two journalists

19 Oct 2016

Finance | Government scraps planned secondary annuity market

The government has abandoned plans to create a market for secondary annuities after it was concluded that conditions for a competitive market were not compatible with effective customer protections.

19 Oct 2016

Companies

Pensions

Image for ftt turns down claim extra time voluntary nics payments

Tax | FTT turns down claim for extra time for voluntary NICs payments

A man who was unaware he was entitled to make voluntary National Insurance contributions (NICs) while living and working abroad has lost an appeal at a First Tier Tribunal (FTT) over HMRC’s refusal to allow him to make additional payments over an extended period, because the mistake was down to his failure to exercise due care and diligence

19 Oct 2016

Tax | HMRC to roll out real time PAYE coding adjustments by 2017

As part of Making Tax Digital, HMRC has set out the priorities for its plans to make near real time adjustments to taxpayers’ tax codes so they pay the right amount of tax within the current tax year

19 Oct 2016

Tax | HMRC extends tax treatment for securitisation companies for 20 years

Draft legislation on extending existing corporation tax treatment applied to securitisation companies for another 20 years until 2037, has been published by HMRC for a period of consultation

19 Oct 2016

Tax | OECD launches business survey on tax certainty to support G20 tax agenda

The OECD tax team is calling on tax professionals and multinationals to participate in an online survey on tax certainty, responding to widespread concerns about the increasing complexity of tax rules and lack of stability for companies and multinationals over tax regulations

19 Oct 2016

| EY fined $11.8m by SEC for audit failures

EY is to pay a $11.8m (£9.5m) penalty to settle charges from the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) relating to failed audits of an oil services company that used dishonest income tax accounting to inflate earnings

19 Oct 2016

Business | Director disqualified for 15 years after £19m VAT fraud

The director of an Essex- based mobile phone wholesaler has been disqualified for 15 years, after an Insolvency Service investigation found he had deliberately participated in transactions which were connected with VAT evasion

19 Oct 2016

Business

Restructuring & Insolvency

Called to Account

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Tax | Gardner: lifting the veil on tax secrecy

As HMRC sifts through its first tranche of automatically exchanged financial data under the UK Foreign Account Tax Compliance Act (UK FATCA), Gary Gardner, tax investigations partner at Blick Rothenberg examines its impact

19 Oct 2016

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Latest news

Business | LinkedIn: tips and advice for accountants online

Tax | Consultations: Making Tax Digital - November 2016 closing dates

Tax | HMRC should shift focus to reducing tax error, says law firm

Finance | FRC launches consultation on IFRS improvements to IAS 7

Finance | FRC wants better balance and tax transparency in reporting

Business | Accountant lands jail sentence over beauty parlour brothel ‘extras’

Finance | Charity Commission consults on reporting of serious incidents

| People in the news: BDO, Deloitte, MHA MacIntyre Hudson

Finance | $2.5m SEC penalty for US technology company for accounting violations

Business | Scotland consults on draft independence referendum bill

Tax | OECD sets timeline for country profiles for cross-border tax disputes

Finance | FRS 102: potential pitfalls of new UK GAAP - tips and advice

Tax | Comment: accountants need government support not criticism

Business | NAO to take closer inspection of NHS trusts’ financial sustainability

Finance | EU’s anti-money laundering risk list ignores Panama Papers havens

Tax | Tax guidance for climate change agreements and state aid reporting

Tax | Tax gap falls to record low at £36bn

Finance | September 2017 trial date for former Tesco executives

Tax | Charities given partial LBTT relief in Scotland

Tax | Grant Thornton calls for reform of complex tax system

Business | Government switch to shared service centres has upped costs, PAC says

Tax | Why I decided to offload my buy-to-let property portfolio

Business | Spinal Tap creator Shearer sues Vivendi over accounting for royalties

Tax | Success for Ingenious in case against HMRC

Finance | Government scraps planned secondary annuity market

Tax | FTT turns down claim for extra time for voluntary NICs payments

Tax | HMRC to roll out real time PAYE coding adjustments by 2017

Tax | HMRC extends tax treatment for securitisation companies for 20 years

Tax | OECD launches business survey on tax certainty to support G20 tax agenda

| EY fined $11.8m by SEC for audit failures

Business | Director disqualified for 15 years after £19m VAT fraud

Tax | Gardner: lifting the veil on tax secrecy