There is strong public support for more robust UK government intervention to encourage responsible tax planning by business, according to research from the Fair Tax Mark

Championship side Aston Villa has received a £4.2m tax bill and could face a winding up order from HMRC if it does not make payment within seven days, while the football club has admitted that its failure to win promotion to the Premiership has created financial difficulties

The Treasury stands to collect between £1.4bn and £3.5bn annually if it introduced a tax on cannabis sales, based on analysis of the tax take from other regulated markets, according to the charity Health Poverty Action

This month's review of tax cases and tax news including IR35 rules set to net private companies, contractor beats HMRC over IR35 dispute, late return penalty thrown out due to lack of evidence

The number of serious tax evasion cases identified by HMRC has jumped 18% in the last year to 3,809, up from 3,216 in 2016/17, driven by the information the tax authority has received under the common reporting standard (CRS), according to Pinsent Masons

HMRC is increasingly moving the focus of its investigations for underpaid tax away from foreign companies and is instead looking more closely at British companies, with HMRC targeting overseas businesses for 34% of all suspected underpaid tax compared to 66% from UK companies, according to Pinsent Masons

The OECD has released the first peer reviews of the operation of the country by country reporting (CBCR) measures resulting from its base erosion and profit shifting (BEPS) project, which show that practically all countries that serve as headquarters to the large multinationals covered by the initiative have introduced new reporting obligations compliant with transparency requirements

Yvette Nunn CTA, director of Berkeley Associates, examines plans to overhaul entrepreneurs’ relief but warns that the proposals could act as a disincentive for minority shareholders

Julie Butler, partner at Butler & Co, considers tax planning arrangements and VAT rules around repairing and restoring neglected farmhouses and barns, comparing the reduced 5% VAT rate for renovation on an unoccupied property against various tax reliefs for habited properties

HMRC has published the latest advisory fuel rates (AFR) for company car users, effective from 1 June 2018 reflecting the upward trend in forecourt fuel prices for higher emission cars

MPs are calling for an overhaul of the finances at Motability, the body which provides access to vehicles for people with disabilities, after a joint Parliamentary committee report found its reserves of £2.4bn are ‘out of proportion’ to the risks it faces and branded the CEO’s £1.7m salary ‘totally unacceptable’

With a number of IR35 public sector cases going against HMRC, the tax authority has released research showing that the majority of public sector employees are now up to speed with the rules although nearly 40% report difficulties filling specialist vacancies as a result of the rule change