HMRC has published guidance on legislation to target serial tax avoidance, which will see it issuing warning notices to taxpayers using schemes which have been defeated, imposing penalties and sanctions and, in some cases, publishing the names of those involved

The latest Central American state, Panama has signed the OECD’s multilateral convention on mutual administrative assistance in tax matters, making it the 105th jurisdiction to agree to fight cross-border tax evasion, just months after the Panama Papers debacle

Jon Thompson, HMRC chief executive, has told MPs that Concentrix failed to supply enough people to manage the outsourcing contract for checking tax credit renewals for fraud and error, resulting in what he termed ‘appalling’ customer service, with the work being brought back in house and potentially terminating early 

The proposed EU common consolidated corporate tax base (CCCTB) would have a ‘significant’ impact on the tax base of Ireland if implemented, accounting firm Grant Thornton warns

The European Commission has re-booted its long-delayed plans to introduce a Common Consolidated Corporate Tax Base (CCCTB), which it says have been reworked to be more pro-business and if approved by the EU28 will reform corporate taxation across the EU

Making Tax Digital should be delayed by as much as 10 years in order to allow businesses to adopt ‘something that works after being properly tested’, according to the Federation of Small Businesses’ (FSB) national chairman Mike Cherry

HMRC’s claims the move to gather data on interest payments directly from banks and adjust PAYE codes is ‘unproblematic’ although some taxpayers are concerned about privacy, data security and confusing communications from the taxman

An overhaul of PAYE Settlement Agreements (PSA) is long overdue and the latest proposals could simplify the current administrative inflexibility over expenses and benefits in kind, making the system less subjective, says Andrew Brookes, head of employer solutions at Menzies

The volume of UK tax law is often criticised as every year another 600 pages are added to the tax code, but increased transparency with the publication of company tax strategies is a welcome development. Bill Dodwell, partner and head of tax policy at Deloitte considers the growing impact of so-called soft law on taxpayer behaviour at a corporate level 

An overhaul of the road tax system from April 2017 will mean that purchasers of new cars valued over £40,000 will face a five-year charge in addition to the annual road tax rate, which is set on a sliding scale

The controversial tax credit contract outsourced to Concentrix, which has been slated by MPs for serious customer service failures, is being brought back in-house with immediate effect, with existing private sector staff transferring to work at HMRC in Belfast

With the Christmas season approaching, HMRC has won an appeal to the Upper Tribunal over the issue of VAT on the hire of pitches for stalls at organised events such as game fairs, rural shows and craft fairs, which has overturned the previous ruling by a First Tier Tribunal (FTT) that no VAT was due