Business &amp; Accountancy Daily

Called to Account

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HR | People in the news: EY, Grant Thornton, FRC

This week’s news of professional moves in the sector includes 63 equity partner appointments and promotions at EY, Grant Thornton promotes a director and appoints a non-executive director, and the FRC has appointed Andrew Vials and deputy chair of the Financial Reporting Review Panel

14 Jul 2017

Careers

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Business | Accountancy graduate applications drop 21%

The number of graduates applying for roles in the accounting sector has dropped by a fifth (21%) as the expected average starting salary for graduates rises to £24,300, according to High Fliers Research

14 Jul 2017

Business | Blockchain surge driving recruitment demand

Half of financial services directors in the UK have already implemented blockchain and nearly a third plan to invest in this area in the future, driving up demand for finance professionals with technology skills, according to research from Robert Half Financial Services

14 Jul 2017

Finance | KPMG takes over from Deloitte at Senior Group

KPMG is to take over from Deloitte as auditor to international manufacturing group Senior, after the aerospace and engineering specialist concluded a tender process

14 Jul 2017

Auditing

Corporate Governance

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Finance | FRC issues amendments to FRS 101 reduced disclosure framework

The Financial Reporting Council (FRC) has issued its final amendments to FRS 101 Reduced Disclosure Framework as part of its annual review cycle

14 Jul 2017

Business | Insolvency rates up among women and young people

Last year saw individual insolvency rates in the UK increase for the first time since 2009, with insolvencies amongst women and younger age groups showing the biggest rate of growth, according to figures from the Insolvency Service

14 Jul 2017

Restructuring & Insolvency

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Business | PwC argues for high tech approach to tackle workplace stress

PwC is urging employers to make more use of technology in the workplace to tackle health and wellbeing issues, after a survey by the firm suggested a third of the UK workforce (34%) may be experiencing difficulties such as anxiety, depression and stress

14 Jul 2017

13 Jul 2017

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Tax | Making Tax Digital delayed until 'at least' 2020 except for VAT

The government has caved into pressure over Making Tax Digital and has delayed rollout by 'at least' two years until 2020 with the deferral confirmed by the Treasury, although quarterly VAT reporting using the system will be mandatory from 2019, reports Sara White

13 Jul 2017

Tax | How Rangers lost employment benefit trust (EBT) case at Supreme Court

When the Supreme Court rejected the Rangers employee benefit trust argument, HMRC appeared to have been vindicated. Ray McCann CTA, partner at Joseph Hage Aaronson examines the implications of the ruling, the implications for companies who used EBTs and did not settle with HMRC when an amnesty was offered, and the use of abusive tax avoidance schemes

13 Jul 2017

Business | Government publishes Brexit Repeal Bill

Prime Minister Theresa May has published the Repeal Bill which will transpose current EU laws into UK law post-Brexit, as opposition parties threaten to vote against the Bill when it is debated in the House of Commons unless changes are made, reports Amy Austin

13 Jul 2017

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Tax | French court rules Google not liable for €1.1bn disputed taxes

Google will not face a €1.1bn (£970m) bill in France after Administrative Court of Paris rejected claims by the country’s tax authorities that the search engine and technology giant exploited loopholes to divert profits abroad, reports Calum Fuller

13 Jul 2017

Tax

Business Tax

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Tax | Nicky Morgan to chair Treasury Committee

Conservative former cabinet minister Nicky Morgan has been elected the first woman to be chair of the Treasury Committee, replacing the retiring Andrew Tyrie

13 Jul 2017

Tax

Politics

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Business | SFP administrators rescue Fixing Centre

Administrators from insolvency practice SFP has sold Woking-based steel structures business Fixing Centre, saving 17 jobs, and staving off closure

13 Jul 2017

Restructuring & Insolvency

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Business | Auto enrolment pensions taken up by 8.1m workers

More than eight million employees have signed up for a workplace pension since the launch of automatic enrolment, new figures published by The Pensions Regulator show, while around 500,000 businesses have a final deadline of 2018 to complete their legal duties depending on when the company was set up

13 Jul 2017

Tax | HMRC forces trusts and estates to register online by 5 October

All trusts and estates with a tax liability must register online via the HMRC trusts and estates online service by 5 October following the withdrawal of paper form 41G (Trusts)

13 Jul 2017

Tax | Second Finance Act pushed into autumn but measures effective April 2017

All measures dropped from the Finance Act including loss relief and non dom changes in the run-up to the election will be reinstated in a Second Finance Bill which will be introduced as soon as possible after the summer recess when MPs return to parliament

13 Jul 2017

Finance | Charity Governance Code revised with external reviews every three years

External reviews every three years, greater openness and limits on how long trustees may serve are among recommendations made by a group of charity membership bodies to strengthen governance and accountability

13 Jul 2017

Charities

Law & Guidance

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Tax | VAT repayment notice updated to reflect cheque withdrawal

HMRC has updated VAT Notice 700/58: treatment of VAT repayment returns to confirm when a repayment return is recorded as being received, as HMRC plans to phase out government cheques for VAT refunds

13 Jul 2017

Business | Debit cards overtake cash as top payment method

For the first time, debit card purchases have overtaken cash as the top payment method with over half of retail purchases made by credit or debit cards, according to the British Retail Consortium’s annual payment survey

13 Jul 2017

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Finance | FRC lab calls for feedback on role of audit committees

The Financial Reporting Council (FRC) is looking for stakeholders and investors to take part in its first Audit and Assurance Lab pilot project exploring the role of audit committee reporting and its role in promoting audit quality, which is set to start this month

13 Jul 2017

Corporate Governance

Accounting Consultations

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Finance | Public confidence in charity regulation and oversight drops 7%

The public faith in effective charity regulation has dropped from 65% in 2015 to 58% in 2017 with only 2% of individuals who had concerns about a charity reporting it to the Charity Commission, despite 88% agreeing the commission is essential

13 Jul 2017

Charities

12 Jul 2017

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Tax | US tax reform: Trump’s repatriation tax

US tax reform is closer than ever with President Donald Trump proposing a one-off 10% repatriation tax on offshore income. Michael Minihan, principal and Ian Boccaccio, principal and practice leader of international tax at Ryan provide key items for evaluating foreign earnings and profits

12 Jul 2017

Tax | Defining workforce flexibility: employment status for tax purposes

As Matthew Taylor delivers his workforce review, Mazars head of employment tax Vaneeta Khurana examines the current tax rules for different types of workers and employees, and how to determine an individual’s employment status for tax purposes

12 Jul 2017

Tax | Croydon regional hub for HMRC set to open this summer

HMRC has confirmed that it will move staff into its first regional hub in Croydon in south London this summer and plans to open the remaining 12 regional centres by 2022, although some staff will be based in six transitional centres until the final relocations are complete by 2026, reports Sara White

12 Jul 2017

Tax | HMRC to phase out government cheques for VAT refunds

HMRC is looking to phase out repayments of VAT by payable order (government cheques) due to them being untraceable, with refunds to be straight directly into bank accounts

12 Jul 2017

Tax | Tax rises and spending cuts needed to meet deficit goal, says IFS

The UK economy is growing too weakly to further bring down the deficit and reach a surplus by the next Parliament without tax rises and further spending cuts, according to the Institute for Fiscal Studies (IFS)

12 Jul 2017

Tax

Budget

Politics

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Business | Premier League football clubs smash revenue records

Premier League clubs reported revenues up by 9% last season to hit a record of £3.6bn, in the final year before the start of the new broadcast deals in 2016/17, according to Deloitte’s annual review of football finance

12 Jul 2017

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Business | Accessing pension pots early ‘new norm’

Accessing pension pots early has become ‘the new norm’ according to the interim findings of a review by the Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) into how the retirement income market is changing since the new pension freedoms were announced in April 2015

12 Jul 2017

Pensions

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Business | Accounting student numbers up while audit firm numbers fall

The number of audit firms is continuing to decline, as is the growth rate in audit fee income at the Big Four firms, but total fee income from auditing public interest entities (PIEs) is growing, according to the latest assessment of the accountancy sector from the Financial Reporting Council (FRC)

12 Jul 2017