The Scottish government’s formal confirmation that all income tax rates will be frozen next year, with the higher rate threshold unchanged at £43,000, means over 300,000 Scottish top rate taxpayers will pay more than their counterparts south of the border

Despite HMRC launching an eight-month public consultation on its flagship Making Tax Digital proposals requiring a switch to digital financial records and quarterly online updating, a fifth of micro business owners have no knowledge of the plans, according to a survey by online accounting provider FreeAgent

The government’s approach to handling public sector data breaches is ‘inconsistent and dysfunctional’ and it should do more to consolidate an ‘alphabet soup’ of agencies involved in the fight against cybercrime, according to a report from the public accounts committee (PAC)

Quarterly reporting under Making Tax Digital will become mandatory for unincorporated businesses, sole traders, buy-to-let landlords and the self employed from April 2018. We asked CCH tax writer Stephen Relf CTA ACA to delve into the detail and explain the implications from quarterly reporting deadlines to penalties and higher cash basis limits

HMRC plans to start testing the Making Tax Digital reporting system from April with an initial cohort of 100 or so testers in place for the pilot, with ambitious plans to expand the number of testers to the thousands by the autumn, reports Sara White

This month's CCH Daily module focuses on year end tax planning for companies, with information on treatment of income and expenditure, profit extraction, losses and capital allowances and capital gains and groups

The Association of Accounting Technicians (AAT) and ACCA are leading calls for a rethink on government policy on apprenticeships, after a poll of MPs found almost half (46%) believe the target of three million apprenticeships set up over the course of parliament ignores the importance of both quality and completion rate and should be modified

The OECD has released key documents which will form the basis of the peer reviews for two of the minimum standards from its base erosion and profit shifting (BEPS) action plan, relating to country-by-country reporting (CBCR) and the compulsory spontaneous exchange of information on tax rulings

The introduction of the revised Professional Conduct in relation to Taxation, produced by the leading professional institutes and approved by the Treasury, sets out tough rules on the limits for tax advisers and accountants when providing tax planning advice and professional judgment. Bill Dodwell, head of tax policy at Deloitte, considers the key issues

Yvette Nunn CTA is heartened MPs in the Treasury Committee have added their voice to the profession's concerns around Making Tax Digital and its ambitious timetable for its introduction

Businesses using Making Tax Digital to file with HMRC will be granted a ‘soft landing’ for late filings in the first 12 months of the project’s operation, the tax authority has said

HMRC has seen a 53% hike in the amount of annual tax on enveloped dwellings (ATED) paid last year, which rose to £178m, according to analysis by law firm Collyer Bristow