In a bid to close the tax gap and chase up recalcitrant taxpayers, HMRC has ramped up spending on private sector debt collectors by 62% in the last year to reach £39m, compared to £24m in 2016

Ireland remains the most competitive tax regime in the world, but the UK is close behind, according to analysis from KPMG

HMRC is consulting on ways to improve the tax and administrative treatment of short-term business visitors from overseas branches, with a view to reducing the administrative cost and burden, and making the UK a more attractive place to headquarter and do business

EU plans to introduce digital taxation on the revenues of multinational technology companies are likely to face strong resistance as it considers amending the definition of a permanent establishment (PE) to include the concept of ‘virtual PE’. Rozi Ellis, associate at Milestone International Tax, considers the proposals 

HMRC has updated the rules on disposals of assets from historic houses within the scope of VAT, with guidance which cancels and replaces the previous notice from January 2002

MPs are warning that the regulations around universal credit pose a ‘very real risk’ to entrepreneurs as they have been designed with ‘little regard for the reality of self-employed work’ and are calling for changes to the rules to avoid crushing new start-ups

Jonathan Amponsah, CEO and founder of the Tax Guys, outlines the pros and cons for investors when entering an Enterprise Investment Scheme (EIS) as well as the various compliance issues to claim the tax relief

The Fair Tax campaign has announced the speakers for its June conference, when leaders from FTSE 100 companies, MPs, economists and tax campaigners will debate tax transparency

The Treasury select committee has criticised the government over the ‘absurd’ decision to use RPI as the inflation measure to calculate student loan interest instead of CPI which is used for majority of government calculations, including benefit rises

The Home Office is meddling with complex tax affairs and it is questionable whether immigration officers have the requisite tax expertise to refuse people leave to remain in the UK under section 322(5) of the Immigration Rules for tax compliance reasons. Andrew Hubbard, tax consultant at RSM considers the dilemma

The OECD is seeking feedback on the scope of proposed revisions to its transfer pricing guidelines covering intra-group services and administrative processes which need updating to match the current global tax landscape

The number of national minimum wage (NMW) underpayments has hit a record 200,000 workers in the past year, more than double the previous year’s total