Following strong criticism from across the profession, the government has toned down the rules in the latest Finance Bill on direct recovery of debts (DRD) which allow HMRC to access bank accounts to recover tax debts, as well as making a number of amendments on changes to inheritance tax on inherited spousal properties and tax liability on loan derivatives

Sarah Bradford ACA CTA assesses the pros and cons of company cars versus cash payments in terms of tax liability for employers and how to ensure your emissions levels are most effective

As HMRC is given more powers to target errant taxpayers, anyone with offshore accounts needs to ensure they are fully tax compliant, and now is the last chance to take advantage of the Leichtenstein Disclosure Facility before a robust new penalty regime comes into force, warns Fiona Fernie, partner (non-lawyer) at Pinsent Masons LLP

With widespread abuse of IR35 tax rules, Mark Groom, vice chair, employment taxes technical committee of CIOT, and Deloitte partner, considers how proposed reforms to the tax system will hit personal service companies

Draft regulations could require disclosure of all but the most basic inheritance (IHT) planning under the new extended DOTAS regulations, warn Geoffrey Todd and Jenny Wilson-Smith, Boodle Hatfield

Does the end of the dividend as we know it signal a shift from entrepreneurship to big business, asks Dominic Slattery, managing director, OneE Group, who outlines some of the options for business owners reconsidering their remuneration arrangements 

Calls are made regularly to merge tax and national insurance contributions (NICs), and once again, the issue is back on the agenda as the Office of Tax Simplification is charged with a new remit to review possible merger options. Sarah Bradford ACA CTA considers the pros and cons

Contractors are facing higher tax bills after a testing Summer Budget targets one-person limited companies with reviews of IR35 intermediaries legislation and the fallout from changes to dividend taxation, says Chris Barnard ACCA, accountancy technical manager at Crunch Accounting