The European Court of Justice (ECJ) has ruled that heavily subsidised transport of school pupils is not classed as an economic activity, as it does not match the approach usually adopted by transport service providers, which means that local authorities cannot recover VAT if they provide this service in a Dutch ruling which could affect UK councils 

HMRC has reminded conveyancers to use code ‘04’ for the ‘type of property’ when completing Stamp Duty Land Tax (SDLT) for buy-to-let and second residential properties 

The craze for adult colouring books has come to the attention of the taxman with HMRC officials reviewing the zero VAT status with a mind to possibly charging VAT at the full 20% rate

There was a substantial  drop in seasonally-adjusted residential property transactions between March and April this year according to the latest HMRC figures, with analysis suggesting the 45.2% decline in the number of houses sold was down to purchasers rushing to beat the introduction of the higher rates of stamp duty land tax (SDLT) on additional properties, which came into effect in April 2016

US fertiliser manufacturer CF Industries has ditched plans for a $8bn (£5.5bn) merger with smaller Dutch rival OCI, which would have originally seen it set up a new holding company in the UK, following the US Treasury’s announcement of further measures to crackdown on so-called tax inversions

Mike McAnulty, director at independent financial adviser Central Investment, discusses the tax changes in pension death benefits and why it is critical to have all financial management implemented before death

The government has announced it will officially go live next week with gov.uk Verify, the online service taxpayers will need to use to prove their identity before accessing HMRC’s digital services and other government online offerings

Pension Wise, the free advice service set up to promote and advise on pensions reform and annuity freedoms is to be merged into the other publically funded advice services on pensions, to create a single website and advisory service 

Four former partners at KPMG’s Belfast office have won the right to challenge HMRC over the legality of a probe into their personal tax affairs, after a court was told a raid on their offices and homes was a ‘publicity stunt’

HMRC is running a trial designed to improve self assessment online returns process for taxpayers and iron out problems with the final filing process

Changes to the rules on claims for entrepreneur’s relief in the event of a company sale led to a spike in solvent companies being wound up in March before the new capital gains tax (CGT) rates came into force, according to the latest figures from insolvency body, R3

The Queen’s speech announces changes to tighten up governance on master trusts which are part of multi-employer and auto enrolment pension schemes and to tackle corruption, money laundering and tax evasion