Early on in his combined autumn statement and spending review, Chancellor George Osborne has announced that improvements in the public finances mean that controversial plans to cut tax credits have been abandoned

Wednesday sees the Chancellor deliver a combined autumn statement and spending review, following on from two Budgets earlier in the year, with predictions suggesting a focus on tax avoidance, pensions and business taxes, and warnings against making the tax system unnecessarily complex and hitting businesses too hard, reports Pat Sweet 

HMRC is broadening its focus on bringing in additional tax from high net worth individuals (HNWI) and has doubled the size of its specialist unit which targets ‘affluent’ taxpayers, with over 100 new inspectors coming on-board over the past two years, according to analysis by Moore Stephens 

With the government yet to publish the results of its discussion document on intermediaries legislation, which looked at proposals to change the regulations around Personal Services Companies (PSCs), the Association of Professional Staffing Companies (APSCo)  has accused the Treasury of a ‘wilful disregard’ for the recommendations made by the House of Lords Select Committee set up to look at the issues last year

In a win for HMRC, the Scottish Court of Session has ruled against Murray Group Holdings, the company behind the now bankrupt Rangers Football Club (Oldco), over a long-running employee benefit trusts (EBT) case concerning trust structures used to pay footballers discretionary bonuses and thus avoid income tax and national insurance contributions (NICs). Sarah Arnold assesses the case law at stake

The government has set in motion the amendment for the new Scottish Rate of Income Tax (SRIT), set to come into force for tax year 2016-17. At the same time, HMRC has issued revised guidance on PAYE and employer reporting requirements for Scottish taxpayers with the main focus on the thorny residency issue