Anyone with offshore bank accounts, overseas income and assets needs to get up to speed with the new rules on international tax compliance, which will see accountants and tax advisers liable to notify clients about automatic exchange of financial information and disclosure rules by 31 August, says Meg Wilson CTA

The European Commission has published its annual taxation trends report showing that tax revenues across the EU’s member states stabilised in 2015 at 38.7% of GDP with the EU having one of the highest tax levels compared to other advanced economies

HMRC’s latest accounts show the tax authority had an 83% success rate in taking actions through courts and tax tribunals protecting £15bn in tax and has brought in record tax revenues for the seventh consecutive year of £574.9bn

Sham contracts in the construction industry are increasingly being used to avoid tax legislation. Ian Anfield, managing director of Hudson Contract, provides tips on how to spot sham contracts and explains the risks associated with them

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 

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

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

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

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

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 

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)

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