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Image for treasury abandons plan abolish class 2 nics

Tax | Treasury abandons plan to abolish Class 2 NICs

The government has announced that it is not going to proceed as planned with the abolition of Class 2 national insurance contributions (NICs), which was originally scheduled for April 2018, then delayed to April 2019

7 Sep 2018

Image for fca warns auditors over client asset reporting

| FCA warns auditors over client asset reporting

Audit firms’ performance has come under fire from the new head of the Financial Conduct Authority (FCA), who has said audit quality needs to improve ‘urgently’ and warned that some firms are failing to produce adequate reporting on client assets

7 Sep 2018

Image for finance mole gallows humour order day

Business | Finance Mole: gallows humour order of the day

Finance Mole has to make the finance team take aptitude tests to satisfy the demands of private equity investors plus, Treasury’s sweet tooth, MP takes shot at audit regulator

7 Sep 2018

Image for charity commission appoints interim manager school charity

Business | Charity Commission appoints interim manager to school charity

The Charity Commission has announced the appointment of an interim manager to Hope House School Limited and will continue to carry out it inquiry following concerns about the charity’s governance and administration

7 Sep 2018

Accountancy Firms

Image for government plans overhaul dividend framework

Finance | Government plans overhaul of dividend framework

The government is considering whether to reinforce the rules on dividend payouts and distributions to give stronger reassurances to shareholders and prevent dividends from undermining the viability of a company, reports James Bunney

7 Sep 2018

Corporate Governance

Audit Regulations

Accounting Consultations

Image for finance services job levels hold steady

Business | Finance services job levels hold steady

The number of financial and professional services jobs has held steady over the last five years although a Brexit ‘no deal’ could result in job losses, according to analysis from UHY Hacker Young

7 Sep 2018

Accountancy Firms

Image for seven year ban director over ps500k vat understatement

Business | Seven-year ban for director over £500K VAT understatement

The director of a company that installed disability ramps across South Wales has been disqualified for seven years for providing inaccurate information to HMRC regarding some £500,000 of under-declared VAT

7 Sep 2018

Accountancy Firms

Called to Account

Image for kpmg seeks buyers blackpool burlesque

Business | KPMG seeks buyers for Blackpool burlesque

Paul Dumbell, advisory director, and Howard Smith, associate partner, from KPMG’s restructuring practice have been appointed joint administrators to Funny Girls Ltd, the Blackpool-based burlesque cabaret showbar operator, which has collapsed putting around 100 jobs at risk

7 Sep 2018

Accountancy Firms

Restructuring & Insolvency

Image for people news bishop fleming pwc rsm

HR | People in the news: Bishop Fleming, PwC, RSM

In the latest accountancy careers news, Bishop Fleming appoints four managers across its tax and audit teams, new head of public sector health at PwC, RSM gains two partners in its Birmingham office

7 Sep 2018

6 Sep 2018

Image for grunberg big four challenger would shake profession

| Grunberg: Big Four challenger would shake up profession

The domination of the Big Four has led to calls for the creation of a new competitor. David Grunberg, founding partner of Grunberg & Co, looks at the consortium approach of mid-tier firms to create a Big Five firm to increase audit competition

6 Sep 2018

Accountancy Firms

Image for authorised economic operators aeo accreditation post brexit what does it mean

Business | Authorised economic operators (AEO) accreditation post-Brexit: what does it mean

Importers and exporters could consider acquiring Authorised Economic Operators (AEO) accreditation to allay Brexit chaos for British businesses, although the government has not been clear in the recent no-deal Brexit papers about how this would work in practice. David Miller, Customs & AEO consultant and co-founder of The Customs People explains the issues for accountants and businesses

6 Sep 2018

Accountancy Firms

Image for taylorcocks merges charity specialist

Business | Taylorcocks merges with charity specialist

Taylorcocks has merged with west Sussex-based Russell New in a move which the top 75 firm says is designed to significantly increase its expertise and consolidate its presence in the south east

6 Sep 2018

Accountancy Firms

Image for eight year ban security company director over missing records

Business | Eight-year ban for security company director over missing records

The director of an Essex security company has been disqualified for eight years having failed to ensure the company maintained proper books and records, after an Insolvency Service investigation found it was not possible to verify over £600,000 of cash withdrawals from the business

6 Sep 2018

Accountancy Firms

Called to Account

Image for hmrcs regional centre locations based employees postcodes

Tax | HMRC’s regional centre locations based on employees’ postcodes

HMRC’s 13 regional centre locations were chosen using employees’ residential postcodes rather than on the basis of where they worked, the tax authority’s chief executive told the Public Accounts Committee (PAC), with redundancies already exceeding the 10% previously estimated

6 Sep 2018

Image for nao wants government do more tackle problem debt

Business | NAO wants government to do more to tackle problem debt

The government’s poor understanding of the impact of individuals’ debt problems is costing taxpayers £248m a year, and there are weaknesses in the Treasury’s approach to tackling the issues, according to a National Audit Office (NAO) report which is also critical of the government’s approach to debt collection

6 Sep 2018

Accountancy Firms

Image for hmrc under fire mps over biometric phone recordings

Tax | HMRC under fire from MPs over biometric phone recordings

HMRC has been criticised by MPs regarding the standards of data protection it maintained while collecting biometric data on customers for security purposes, a process that generated complaints from taxpayers, at a PAC hearing into HMRC performance

6 Sep 2018

Image for brexit uncertainty hits future planning businesses

Business | Brexit uncertainty hits future planning at businesses

Lack of clarity around the Brexit process is hitting preparations for business after the UK leaves the EU, with only a third of finance professionals in large businesses reporting their organisation has started scenario planning and just 20% of those in small organisations, according to a poll

6 Sep 2018

Accountancy Firms

Image for late payment penalty regime unfair taxpayers warns att

Tax | Late payment penalty regime ‘unfair’ for taxpayers, warns ATT

HMRC’s plans to introduce a new penalty regime for late payment of tax have been strongly criticised by the Association of Taxation Technicians (ATT), which says the proposals risk producing unfair outcomes for taxpayers who had agreed to pay tax liabilities by instalments

6 Sep 2018

5 Sep 2018

Image for court appeal upholds hmrc practice loss streaming

Tax | Court of Appeal upholds HMRC practice of loss streaming

HMRC has had its practice of loss streaming in relation to transfers of trade validated in the Court of Appeal in Leekes Ltd v Revenue & Customs Commissioners [2018] BTC 21. Paul Davies CTA ACA, tax writer at Croner-i, takes a closer look at the decision

5 Sep 2018

Image for gaucho rescued after bank lenders acquire restaurant chain

Business | Gaucho rescued after bank lenders acquire restaurant chain

Gaucho, the upmarket restaurant chain, is to be bought out of administration by the company’s lenders and banking groups, Investec Bank and SC Lowy, saving 750 employees and 16 UK sites

5 Sep 2018

Accountancy Firms

Restructuring & Insolvency

Image for efrag flags ifrs 17 concerns

Finance | EFRAG flags up IFRS 17 concerns

The European Financial Reporting Advisory Group (EFRAG) has written to the IASB to highlight certain aspects of IFRS 17 Insurance Contracts that its research with insurers has indicated merit further consideration, which include possible unexpected costs in implementation

5 Sep 2018

Accounting Standards

Financial Reporting

Image for pensions dashboard back government agenda

Business | Pensions dashboard back on government agenda

The government has signalled it is to go ahead with plans to support a pensions dashboard, bringing together information about all of an individual’s pension pots in one place

5 Sep 2018

Accountancy Firms

AI & Technology

Image for fca prosecutes ps28m investment fraud

Business | FCA prosecutes £2.8m investment fraud

The Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) has successfully concluded its second largest ever criminal prosecution, which has seen five individuals sentenced to a total of 17.5 years imprisonment for their roles in a £2.8m share fraud

5 Sep 2018

Called to Account

Image for oecd says corporate tax rates race average

Tax | OECD says corporate tax rates in ‘race to the average’

Tax reforms are accelerating worldwide, with the trend towards pushing down corporate tax rates in order to boost investment gaining momentum over the last two years, according to analysis from the OECD

5 Sep 2018

International Tax

Image for scottish government pledges support business exports

Business | Scottish government pledges support for business exports

Scotland is to go ahead with plans for a Scottish National Investment Bank, as well as an additional £7bn investment in infrastructure and a campaign to support businesses looking to export overseas

5 Sep 2018

Accountancy Firms

Image for increase businesses using asset based lending

Business | Increase in businesses using asset-based lending

The number of businesses using asset-based lending has hit the highest quarterly level since 2015 with increasing interest from larger organisations, according to figures from the UK Finance

5 Sep 2018

Accountancy Firms

Image for malkin preparing no deal brexit and impact tax

Tax | Malkin: preparing for a no deal Brexit and the impact on tax

Although there is still little detail on the UK’s exit from the EU, the government has published guidance on how to prepare for a no deal scenario. Jane Malkin, European head of tax development at Tax Systems, explains how a no deal Brexit will affect tax and provides tips on steps businesses can take to prepare

5 Sep 2018