Employers affected by the introduction of the apprenticeship levy will have to register online to manage their schemes, on a new web portal set up by the Department for Education and the Skills Funding Agency (SFA) prior to the launch of the apprenticeship levy on 6 April 2017

HMRC is to close the online service for managing qualifying recognised overseas pension schemes (QROPS) in six weeks’ time, while plans to limit overseas transfers have come under fire

In part six of our exclusive series on buy-to-let taxation, Andrew Constable, partner at Kingston Smith, analyses the complicated tax implications of owning property overseas, particularly in light of 3% stamp duty land tax levy on second home purchases

Taxpayers are waiting longer to have tax enquiries closed, with a 24% rise in the time taken last year, which is putting taxpayers under greater stress and forcing them to rack up higher legal fees according to City law firm RPC

A referendum in Switzerland has rejected planned reforms of the country's corporate tax system, despite support from government and business for the new regime, which was intended to bring the current approach of low taxes for multinationals into line with international norms

HMRC is changing the format of its online forms to make them interactive which means that PDFs cannot be opened without upgrading to the latest version of Adobe Reader, which could interfere with existing software preferences on user PCs

The Court of Appeal has handed down an important ruling relating to the distinction between workers and the self employed, dismissing an appeal by Pimlico Plumbers which resulted from one of its plumbers taking a case to the employment tribunal arguing for treatment as an employee rather than a contractor, reports Pat Sweet

Self employed businesses and sole traders who feel they may need more time to adjust to the requirements of Making Tax Digital could consider changing their accounting date, according to ICAEW

Anyone receiving a penalty from HMRC for late filing of a self assessment form for tax year 2015/16 must complete an SA370 appeal form within 30 days if they dispute the fine, although only the basic £100 fine appeal process is available online

Last week saw an interesting few days. We had the vote on triggering Article 50 in the Commons and a day later the publication of the Brexit White Paper. Getting in just before the filing deadline of 31 January, HMRC’s response to the six consultations on Making Tax Digital landed with a thud. Jonathan Reilly, head of tax at Grant Thornton reacts to the digitisation plans  

The bill giving prime minister Theresa May the authority to trigger Article 50 and start negotiations to take the UK out of the EU has passed its final stage in the House of Commons and will now move on to lords for consideration.

Members of the House of Lords Economic Affairs Finance Bill sub-committee have described the mandatory uptake of Making Tax Digital as ‘undemocratic’ as they continue their enquiries into the project’s rollout. Calum Fuller reports