Oil & Gas UK is calling for urgent tax reform to counter an all-time low in future investment in the sector in the face of falling oil prices, with demands for action in the Budget next month

As plans for a 3% stamp duty surcharge for second home purchases and for buy-to-let landlords, due to come into effect in April, CIOT is lobbying the government to bring in an exemption for parents helping their children become first time buyers, highlighting that the current proposals present particular challenges for families where a child has additional needs

There has been mixed reaction to HMRC’s Customer Charter with criticism that the tone and language of the new Charter is overly aggressive and a ‘bit threatening’ in an indepth survey of customers and employers conducted by Ipsos Mori

High earners need to act to reduce a damaging tax bill, particularly those with buy-to-let rental income, when the pension lifetime allowance comes into effect on 6 April 2016, warns Darren Laverty, partner at employee benefits specialist, Secondsight

The Supreme Court has ruled that catalogue company Shop Direct Group (SDG) must pay corporation tax on a £125m VAT repayment relating to overpayments made over many years by companies in the Littlewoods corporate group which no longer trade, confirming earlier rulings handed down by the First Tier Tribunal, Upper Tribunal and Court of Appeal, reports Pat Sweet

The First Tier Tribunal (FTT) has decided various preliminary issues concerning the interaction of self-assessment and corporation tax enquiries, penalty notices and possible criminal prosecution in a complex case concerning a Code of Practice 9 (COP9) enquiry involving the director of a company called Gold Nuts Ltd who strongly denied any wrongdoing

HMRC has published a policy paper updating the information on new rules on withdrawals and cash replacements to Individual Savings Accounts (ISAs), introduced in the March Budget 2015, to reflect the new help to buy ISA

The HMRC Secure Electronic Transfer (SET) online service will be unavailable for several hours this weekend for scheduled maintenance so  businesses and agents will not be able to download large data files over the period

HMRC has issued draft guidance on the tax exemption for trivial benefits in kind worth less than £50 and confirmation of plans to extend exemption to trivial BiKs provided to former employees, as well as setting a higher limit for close companies

There has been mixed reaction to the introduction of the new tax-free personal savings allowance (PSA) with warnings that the change is over-complicated and is likely to cause confusion for taxpayers who will also have to submit regular reports on savings income to the taxman if they are to avoid punitive penalties

Management changes and organisational restructuring at HMRC has seen spate of tax officials moving to the private sector with a glut of 'gamekeeper-turned-poacher' tax experts that could undermine the function of the tax authority