The Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) has torn up its original business plan for next year and published a shorter, sharper version, setting out the regulator’s priorities for the year ahead given substantial impact of the challenges presented by the coronavirus pandemic

High street fashion chains Oasis and Warehouse have become the latest retail casualties during the coronavirus crisis, appointing Deloitte to handle the group’s administration, which has seen 200 redundancies and 1,800 employees furloughed

The government has extended the start date for eligibility for furlough to 19 March from original 28 February meaning 200,000 more people can benefit, reports Sara White

Coutts, the Queen’s bankers, and four other lenders have been added to the British Business Bank list of over 40 lenders accredited under the coronavirus business interruption loan scheme (CBILS), designed to provide support for smaller businesses hit by the impact of the pandemic

Scenario modelling by the Office for Budget Responsibility (OBR) suggests the UK faces the biggest economic shock in 300 years as a result of the current pandemic, with GDP falling 35% in the second quarter, unemployment rising by over two million, and the largest deficit in the government’s finances since the Second World War

For owner managers of limited companies, covid-19 is a minefield as government emergency financial support seems to miss these two million potential beneficiaries. Stephen Relf CTA FCA and Martin Jackson ATT, Croner-i, explain the limited options available

HMRC is relaxing parts of its regime for investigating taxpayers and businesses it believes may have under-reported tax liabilities correctly, but individuals and firms have been warned not to be lulled into a false sense of security, reports Pat Sweet

HMRC has published guidance on how it will work out total income and trading profits for the income support scheme, designed to provide help for the self-employed and members of partnerships who have lost profits due to coronavirus

Private sector defined benefit (DB) pension schemes are facing a drop of between £60bn and £80bn  in assets over the next decade, as a result of the Treasury’s decision to reform the measure of inflation, according to the Pensions Policy Institute

The Post Office is delaying by at least six weeks the planned launch of a scheme offering compensation to hundreds of current and former subpostmasters who faced false accusations of fraud related to its Horizon branch accounting system, blaming covid-19 fallout

HMRC has issued detailed guidance in updated VAT Notice 700/22 setting out the process for deferring VAT filings by three months under Making Tax Digital

The Bank of England has agreed to provide the Treasury with an unlimited Ways & Means overdraft to temporarily extend the government’s overdraft facility to help with  cashflow caused by emergency funding requirements