HMRC has been forced to admit that it failed to treat one third of members of the Scottish parliament (MSPs) as Scottish taxpayers, despite the fact the legislation introducing the devolved income tax regime specifically states that all MSPs, Scottish MPs and Scottish MEPs should be treated as Scottish taxpayers by default

As government pushes ahead with mandatory private sector off-payroll working rules from 2020, Joe Tully, managing director of Brookson Legal, stresses the importance of an audit of contractor workforces to understand the scale of the challenge 

HMRC has been given 28 days to delete an estimated five million taxpayer biometric ‘voice prints’ obtained from callers to its helplines, after an investigation by the Information Commissioner’s Office (ICO) found they were being held illegally in contravention of data protection rules

Three directors of a company offering so-called ethical Costa Rican plantation investments have been banned after withdrawing over £7m from a tax planning scheme when they knew it was being investigated by HMRC

The Scottish government has made a u-turn on plans to cut the rate of tax on air travel with the introduction of an air departure tax (ADT) in Scotland, which would replace UK wide air passenger duty (APD)

A specialist HMRC taskforce has collected over £5m in taxes by tackling dishonest dog breeders, as part of wider initiatives designed to crack down on selling puppies on the black market

Revenue from remote gaming duty (RGD), which is levied on online or internet based gambling via electronic devices, has risen sharply since the tax was introduced three years ago, prompting calls for some of the £529m raised annually to be invested in helping problem gamblers

A record number of people withdrew funds from their pension pots in the first three months of the year, with 648,000 payments to 284,000 individuals, but problems remain with overpayments of tax, with £31.1m claimed in the first quarter of 2019

The UK’s wealthiest taxpayers are becoming more wary about using complex tax planning and contrived tax avoidance schemes, after public concerns about moral behaviour, but still view inheritance tax (IHT) as a punitive ‘double tax’, reports Pat Sweet

This month’s exclusive Accountancy Daily CPD module will look at the alternative dispute resolution (ADR) process, which uses mediation to resolve tax disagreements between taxpayers and HMRC

In this month’s tax updates, cases include Loose Women’s star IR35 win while Hustle actor’s Big Bad Wolffe company loses NIC appeal, a taxpayer’s unsolicited tax returns are rejected, HMRC wins £40m Hyrax case, IR35 private sector rules released, Treasury reports on loan charge, HMRC consults on PRR and multinationals face CFC clawback

The Department for Work and  Pensions (DWP)  has identified more than double the number of carer’s allowance overpayments since introducing new data matching systems with HMRC and employing additional staff, and is planning to recover £150m, according to a report by the National Audit Office (NAO)