A sharp increase in creditors’ voluntary liquidations (CVLs) has raised alarms about potential abuse of the process, allowing companies to shed debts with minimal scrutiny. CVLs, where a company’s shareholders agree to wind up the business due to insolvency, have reached record levels, making them the most common form of corporate insolvency in the UK. […]
HMRC has reported a significant 21% drop in research and development (R&D) tax credit claims for the 2022/23 tax year, with the number of claims falling to 65,690 from 83,240 in the previous year. Nikhil Oza, Partner at UHY Hacker Young, attributes the decline to HMRC’s increasingly stringent claim processing, which is discouraging small businesses […]
Labour’s proposed expat exit tax has come under fire from leading audit, tax, and business advisory firm Blick Rothenberg, which warns that the policy could drive Foreign Direct Investment (FDI) away from the UK to more tax-friendly countries like France. Vanesha Kistoo, Head of Blick Rothenberg’s French Desk, described the proposed tax as “deeply flawed” […]
A rising number of families are being unexpectedly hit with inheritance tax (IHT) bills on gifts, as more people fall foul of the complex seven-year rule, recent figures reveal. The rule stipulates that any assets transferred within seven years of a person’s death are considered part of their estate for tax purposes, subject to a […]
HM Revenue & Customs (HMRC) has clawed back nearly £70 million in unpaid taxes from footballers, agents, and clubs over the past year as part of a rigorous crackdown on tax avoidance schemes in the sport. This initiative has seen investigations launched into 20 football clubs, 83 players, and 21 agents since April 2023. The […]
The British Business Bank, the government’s economic development agency, has reported a loss of £122 million for the year ending March, marking its second consecutive year in the red due to declining valuations in private equity markets. Chief Executive Louis Taylor attributed the loss to “short-term falls in the book valuation of long-term investments,” stressing […]
The UK government has lost £4.1 billion of taxpayer money due to errors and fraud in research and development (R&D) tax schemes since their introduction in 2020, according to HM Revenue and Customs (HMRC). Critics claim that some companies are exploiting these tax breaks without engaging in genuine R&D activities. This controversy arises amidst a […]
The Bank of England has reduced interest rates for the first time in over four years, providing much-needed relief to millions of homeowners and families still grappling with the high cost of living. In a closely contested decision announced at midday, the nine-member Monetary Policy Committee (MPC) voted 5-4 to lower the base rate by […]
Businesses of every size have been unable to escape the incredible impact that AI has had on the ways in which we do business of late. From conglomerate to SME, organisations are becoming faster, more agile, and more robust as we outsource administrative and repetitive tasks to our AI co-workers. One of the newest AI […]
More than half a million taxpayers, set to receive HMRC’s simple tax assessments for the first time, are being warned not to ignore them to avoid penalties and missed tax deductions, according to leading audit, tax, and business advisory firm Blick Rothenberg. Robert Salter, a Director at the firm, stated: “HMRC has recently announced that […]