The country’s tax base is becoming too small and is causing yields to suffer, says RSM senior tax partner George Bull, who is calling for a rethink to help the public purse recover

A man from Surrey who masterminded a six-strong gang that fraudulently claimed £240,000 in VAT repayments by setting up a fake catering business, has been jailed for three and a half years

The latest scandals, cases and penalties including an underwear trader pulled up for £58k VAT fraud, eBay seller avoids jail after £200k tax fraud, £158k CGT fraud puts property landlord in jail

Accounting and financial staff are currently in high demand in the permanent vacancy market, and those with specialist IT skills can look ahead to salary increases, according to two recent surveys

Public sector organisations are shouldering the costs of recent changes to legislation around ‘off-payroll’ working, which have resulted in pay rate hikes, while 70% of recruiters are reporting a drop in contract placements according to the latest research from the Association of Professional Staffing Companies (APSCo)

HMRC has updated some of its forms on the VAT rules relating to specific activities involving real estate to show new contact details and changes to the address to which forms should be submitted

Next week sees the first appearance by Chancellor Philip Hammond in front of the new Treasury ommittee, to be followed by a subsequent session when Mark Carney, governor of the Bank of England, will be facing MPs’ questions

Career news this week includes an audiut partner in BDO’s Bristol office, Blick Rothenberg appoints three partners across its audit, tax and dispute resolution teams, MHA MacIntyre Hudson promotes a partner in its London office

The Charity Commission has opened a statutory inquiry into Chichester and District Dog Rescue Society and frozen its bank accounts, following concerns over its financial controls

The Fundraising Regulator is to consult on strengthening the sections on data protection with its code of fundraising practice, in light of the upcoming General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR) legislation, which comes into effect next year, and recent concerns about how charities use data on donors