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Tax | Novated property contract was liable for VAT

The Hanuman Commercial case at the First Tier Tribunal highlights the nuances of VAT liability when novating contracts. Stan Dencher, specialist tax writer at Croner-I, examines the ruling

13 Feb 2018

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Tax | Inheritance tax: time to reform overly complex rules

Inheritance tax may be paid by less than 5% of estates but it is a hugely complex system and now the Chancellor, Philip Hammond, has asked the Office of Tax Simplification (OTS) to come up with simplification proposals. Paul Morton, tax director and Daphna Jowell, IHT review team leader at the Office of Tax Simplification (OTS) consider key problem areas requiring reform

13 Feb 2018

International Tax

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| Big Four ‘feasted’ on Carillion with £71m fees

The Big Four have been accused of ‘feasting on what was soon to become a carcass’, after the joint select committee inquiry into the collapse of Carillion found the accountancy firms had billed for £71m of work with the outsourcer since 2008, amid claims the relationships became too ‘cosy’

13 Feb 2018

Accountancy Firms

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Finance | First prosecution for failing to provide workplace pension

A bus company and its managing director will have to pay more than £60,000 after they admitted trying to deliberately avoid giving their staff workplace pensions, in the first such prosecution by The Pensions Regulator (TPR)

13 Feb 2018

Called to Account

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Tax | Ireland forecasts €54.2bn tax-take in 2018

Ireland is expecting to raise €54.2bn (£48bn) in taxes this year, 7% more than in the previous year, with the biggest increases expected to come from income tax and VAT, according to analysis published by the finance department

13 Feb 2018

International Tax

Image for armstrong watson acquires haines watts glasgow office

Business | Armstrong Watson acquires Haines Watts Glasgow office

Armstrong Watson has acquired Haines Watts Glasgow office as part of plans to expand the business across Scotland and the north of England

13 Feb 2018

Accountancy Firms

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Business | BVI-based companies top list for foreign property ownership

Companies registered in the British Virgin Islands (BVI) own more property in England and Wales than those based in any other country, according to analysis of Land Registry data on overseas property ownership carried out by the BBC

13 Feb 2018

Accountancy Firms

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Business | Haulage director disqualified for removing assets

The director of a Perth-based haulage company has been disqualified for seven years for selling company assets for his own benefit, leaving creditors including HMRC unpaid, following an Insolvency Service investigation

13 Feb 2018

Called to Account

12 Feb 2018

Image for gift aid tax incentive delivers just 27p extra every ps1 spent

Tax | Gift Aid tax incentive delivers just 27p extra for every £1 spent

Gift Aid’s aim of encouraging higher-rate taxpayers to make larger charitable donations delivers just 27p more for every additional £1 spent on the tax incentive, and charities would get substantially higher donations if the value of the relief were given directly to them, according to the National Audit Office (NAO) and University of Birmingham tax centre

12 Feb 2018

Image for case corporation tax loss can be offset english holdings

Tax | Case: corporation tax loss can be offset in English Holdings

HMRC's appeal has been dismissed by a First Tier Tribunal (FTT) after it allowed English Holdings appeal against a closure notice that had refused the company's claim for loss relief

12 Feb 2018

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| KPMG chips in as auditor to Apple supplier IQE

Cardiff-based Apple chip component supplier IQE has announced it has appointed KPMG as its new auditor, replacing PwC who has held the role since 2005, and has also repudiated claims from hedge funds over its governance and accounting practices

12 Feb 2018

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Business | Fish shop bosses banned over cash and tax failures

The husband and wife directors of Mr Cod Morden Ltd have each been disqualified from acting as company directors for seven years, after an HMRC investigation found they had under-declared the VAT due on fish shop sales and owed some £500,000 in taxes

12 Feb 2018

Restructuring & Insolvency

Called to Account

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Business | Luxury yacht company hits financial turbulence

Neil Gostelow and Mark Orton, partners from KPMG restructuring have been appointed joint administrators to Oyster Marine Holdings Ltd, the holding company for the Oyster Yacht group of luxury boat builders, which has run out of funds

12 Feb 2018

Accountancy Firms

Restructuring & Insolvency

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Tax | ICAEW offers Valentine's tax advice

With Valentine’s Day just two days away, the ICAEW has crunched the numbers to bring some practicality to romance, by pointing out the tax benefits of saying ‘I do’ to a marriage or civil partnership proposal on Wednesday

12 Feb 2018

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Tax | HMRC enlists shopworkers to halt iTunes tax scam

HMRC is ramping up its battle against the iTunes phone scam it says is conning vulnerable and elderly people out of thousands of pounds, by writing to the chief executives of major UK retailers, urging them to alert their staff so that they can act as the last line of defence against fraudsters

12 Feb 2018

Law and Regulation

Image for barclays bank faces sfo charge over 3bn qatari loan

Business | Barclays Bank faces SFO charge over $3bn Qatari loan

The Serious Fraud Office (SFO) has announced a new charge against Barclays Bank in relation to loans made to Qatari investors during the bank’s fundraising in the aftermath of the financial crisis, following on from earlier charges brought against the holding company, Barclays plc, and four individuals in June 2017

12 Feb 2018

Accountancy Firms

9 Feb 2018

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Tax | Majority unaware of inheritance tax limits

Confusion about the operation of inheritance tax (IHT) is growing, with over two thirds of those liable not knowing the threshold for the standard nil rate band of £325,000, according to a survey by Canada Life

9 Feb 2018

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Business | Is Alexa your next HR hire?

As artificial intelligence becomes increasingly popular through the likes of Amazon Alexa and Google Home Alaistair Brown, chief technical officer at Bright HR, considers how virtual assistants can be used to improve HR in the workplace

9 Feb 2018

AI & Technology

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Business | PwC blows away winter blues at Wizard of Oz panto

The 32nd annual PwC Panto, the Wizard of Oz, is a dazzling display of technicolour talent and energy with 200 PwC staff and alumni performing the show, sharing the fun with 8,000-plus kids from inner city schools and charities, who get to go for free, not to mention the grown-ups

9 Feb 2018

Accountancy Firms

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Business | Finance Mole: meetings not for daydreams

Finance Mole is making an impression at the new job until a hunt for Pall Mall sets him reminiscing, despite IT failures hitting HMRC its employees are rewarded in the New Year’s Honours list and naming services using initials becomes a trend

9 Feb 2018

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HR | Millennial interviews: the assistant manager

This week CCH Daily talks to Adam Soilleux, an assistant manager in BDO’s London financial services team, on why he decided to turn away from banking and go into accountancy, whether he has any regrets and what he believes his toughest challenge is

9 Feb 2018

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Business | Accountant fined after sweary rant at clients

An accountant has been fined £1,500 and ordered to pay £8,000 in costs to the ICAEW after launching into an expletive rant over a fee dispute with clients, which was found to breach professional behaviour rules

9 Feb 2018

Called to Account

Image for praxity alliance pushes through 5bn barrier

Business | Praxity Alliance pushes through $5bn barrier

The Praxity Alliance of independent accounting and consulting firms has reported record global revenues of $5.2bn (£3.7bn) for the year ended 31 December 2017, representing a year-on-year increase of 9.5%

9 Feb 2018

Accountancy Firms

Image for official warning maidenhead charity over accounting failures

Finance | Official warning to Maidenhead charity over accounting failures

The Charity Commission has issued an official warning to the Islamic Trust (Maidenhead) after finding misconduct and mismanagement in the administration of the charity

9 Feb 2018

Financial Reporting

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Business | Accounting job applications up 88%

The new year has seen job-seeking accounting professionals showing strong resolve to find new positions, with application rates in the sector rising by 88% in January 2018, compared to the end of 2017, according to job market data from CV-Library

9 Feb 2018

Accountancy Firms

Image for people news armstrong watson rsm moore stephens

HR | People in the news: Armstrong Watson, RSM, Moore Stephens

Career news this week includes a partner at Armstrong Watson is appointed as chairman of the firm, RSM appoints a corporate tax partner, a transfer pricing partner joins Moore Stephens from RSM

9 Feb 2018

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Business | 78% of UK CFOs report rising stress levels in finance

Finance workers in the UK are among the most stressed in the world, and very few expect the situation to change over the next two years, according to a study by Robert Half UK

9 Feb 2018

Accountancy Firms

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Business | ICAEW teams up with charity to build education in economics

ICAEW is backing a campaign to encourage schools to devote more time to providing education on economics, with the aim of raising its profile within the personal, social, health and economics education (PSHE) module, in a bid to equip students with a deeper understanding of how the economy operates

9 Feb 2018

Accountancy Firms

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Tax | OECD updates guidance on country-by-country reporting

The OECD’s inclusive framework on base erosion and profit shifting (BEPS) has released additional guidance to give certainty to tax administrations and multinationals on the implementation of country-by-country reporting (CBCR), in line with action 13 of its plan

9 Feb 2018

International Tax

Accountancy Firms

Image for pwc appointed administrators williams industrial services

Business | PwC appointed administrators to Williams Industrial Services

Stephen Cave and Toby Underwood, partners at PwC, have been appointed joint administrators to Williams Industrial Services, a County Antrim engineering firm, with the loss of 145 jobs

9 Feb 2018

Accountancy Firms

Restructuring & Insolvency