University graduates will no longer temporarily overpay hundreds of pounds on their student loans as Chancellor Philip Hammond announces changes to the student loan and HMRC systems

The government has pledged to invest millions of pounds in to maths development and training programmes to help prepare the next generation of accountants and bankers for the new economy post-Brexit

The government has moved to prevent companies waiting for the six year limit for reporting depreciatory transactions to elapse, it has been confirmed in the Budget

In the Autumn Budget, Chancellor Philip Hammond announced a raft of measures to improve the environment such as investment in electric cars and tax breaks for employers who provide electricity for employees to charge their ultra-low emission vehicles

The Budget included proposals for two changes to the double taxation relief targeted anti-avoidance rule (TAAR), in a bid to bring it into line with similar anti avoidance measures and to cut down on abusive arrangements

The Budget contained a measure aimed at tackling employers who have a history of misusing the employment allowance (EA) to avoid paying the correct amount of national insurance contributions (NICs), by requiring employers to pay a bond equivalent to the amount of relief

Plans unveiled as part of the Budget papers to move to a points-based penalty system for late or missing tax returns have been criticised by the Association of Taxation Technicians (ATT), over concerns the decision could result in unintended consequences, particularly when the Making Tax Digital regime starts

The Budget included a measure clarifying the corporation tax treatment of  the disposal of intangible fixed assets, designed to tackle ‘step up’ tax avoidance schemes by bringing the rules for all non-cash disposals and related party licensing arrangements in line with cash transactions

As part of the clampdown on abuse of disguised remuneration by company directors, the government plans to introduce further measures in Finance Bill 2018 to tackle existing, and prevent future use of, disguised remuneration tax avoidance schemes 

The Chancellor included an early warning in the Budget of the government’s plans to tackle VAT fraud in the construction industry, by introducing a domestic ‘reverse charge’ VAT scheme for construction services

The government has outlined plans in the Budget to increase the time limits for assessing all offshore case of potential tax avoidance to at least 12 years where non-compliant behaviour is involved, with a consultation on this in spring 2018

Mark Cawthron LLB CTA assesses the first autumn Budget in 20 years, outlining the key measures and stressing that a far from radical Budget actually disguised a number of significant tax measures