HMRC has issued late filing penalties for some 2013/14 trust self assessment tax returns that have been submitted electronically in recent weeks

Out of control pets and even the administrative failings of the US president  have been named as reasons for missing previous year’s January  deadline for online tax returns, according to information released by HMRC

More than half a million businesses have signed up for an online tax account ’Your Tax Account’, offered through HMRC since a pilot roll out in May 2014

HMRC has announced a one-off extension to the closing date for its contractor loan settlement opportunity (CLSO) for an additional six months for ‘exceptional reasons’, including the need to clarify some details of the arrangements relating to inheritance tax (IHT) rules and possible instalment settlements

Following an announcement at Autumn Statement 2014, HMRC has issued a consultation on proposals to allow HMRC to refer matters to the tax tribunal in order to speed up the resolution time for certain enquiries into Self Assessment tax returns

In the push to introduce new rules and guidance to tackle corporate tax avoidance, the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) has published three discussion drafts relating to actions 4, 8-10 and 14 of its Base Erosion and Profit Shifting (BEPS) Action Plan for comment by 6 February 2015 (actions 4 and 8-10) and 16 January 2015 (action 14). 

HMRC has published a technical note clarifying the scope of the Scottish rate of income tax (SRIT) and setting out remaining draft legislation for comment by 31 January 2014

Unpaid taxes are among the unrecovered debts to be targeted by a new joint venture set up and owned by the government and private sector operator TDX Group, an Equifax company, which has been established to provide a single point of access to a wide range of debt management and collection services for a number of government departments starting next year

For taxpayers facing a computation headache after the festive fun finishes, HMRC is providing a new online chat service to customers with self assessment (SA) queries in the run-up to the SA deadline on 31 January