With an increasing number of phishing attacks from scammers purporting to be the taxman, HMRC has updated its guidance on how to distinguish between genuine contact and phishing attempts, with new information about identifying text messages, which it is using as part of a new security verification process for online accounts 

HMRC has issued updated guidance for employers about student loan repayments, providing new information on the procedures for handling overpayments and how to judge which of two plans apply to an individual’s loan repayment schedule

ICAEW is urging the government to make more information available about the making tax digital plans and the move to online filing of accounts, after research found 75% of UK businesses do not currently maintain their accounts electronically using accounting software

Download the HMRC capital gains tax (CGT) indexation allowance for December 2015

John Hargreaves, founder of  discount retail chain Matalan, has failed in a bid at the Court of Appeal to overturn previous tribunal decisions that he has no right to a separate preliminary hearing over the validity of an HMRC discovery assessment over his tax affairs relating to capital gains over the sale of shares before his appeal against that assessment takes place

The key HMRC filing deadlines from April to July 2016 including inheritance tax due on lifetime transfers, employment quarterly intermediary reporting and deadline for use of capital gains tax (CGT) annual allowances

The OECD has launched a consultation on the tax treaty entitlement of non-Collective Investment Vehicle (CIV) funds as part of its follow-up work for its Base Erosion and Profit Shifting (BEPS) project, to ensure that the new treaty provisions included in its Action 6 report address adequately the treaty entitlement of these funds

Four convicted fraudsters, who were part of an 18-strong crime gang involved in a mobile phone VAT fraud, have been ordered to repay more than £111m in criminal profits or face additional jail terms

A public health consultant, Dr Walapu, has lost his judicial review over a challenge to HMRC’s imposition of an accelerated payments notice (APN) relating to his use of a notified tax avoidance scheme, with the judge saying there was no evidence HMRC’s actions were ‘unlawfully retrospective’ and nor were they ‘an abuse of power or otherwise unfair’

HMRC raised nearly half a billion pounds from investigations into the tax affairs of small businesses last year, according to data revealed by UHY Hacker Young following a freedom of information request, which warns that the introduction of specialist taskforces is likely to see scrutiny increase further

The UK government has won a VAT victory over the EU over the VAT rating of tampons and sanitary products with rules set to come into force shortly to remove the current 5% charge

The government is to implement the majority of changes to small business taxation recommended in a review carried out by the Office of Tax Simplification (OTS), but is calling for further work to review the possibility of providing the self employed with limited liability for their assets