HMRC has ramped up its enforcement of National Minimum Wage (NMW) compliance, resulting in £13.7 million in penalties levied against employers during the 2022/23 tax year. This enforcement push follows the government’s increasing focus on NMW violations, supported by a doubling of HMRC’s enforcement budget to £27.8 million compared to 2015/16. A recent report by […]
Whitbread, the owner of Premier Inn, has announced plans to return more than £2 billion to shareholders over the next five years while boosting profits by at least £300 million. This comes despite a 22% decline in pre-tax profits for the first half of the year, as the company faces softer demand in the UK […]
Eric Schmidt, former chief executive of Google, has warned that excessive regulation and bureaucracy are holding back the UK’s economic growth and progress towards its net zero goals. Speaking at Sir Keir Starmer’s investment summit, Schmidt suggested the UK government would benefit from appointing a “minister of anti-regulation” to tackle these issues, which he believes […]
New polling suggests that over half of Britons (52%) support increasing taxes on online gambling, with many prioritising a hike in gambling duties over other taxes such as income tax, VAT, and fuel duties. This comes as the Social Market Foundation (SMF) releases a report advocating for a significant increase in Remote Gaming Duty from […]
The Alan Shearer Foundation has received a substantial boost, with £23,500 raised by workplace technology specialist Agilico during the Great North Run. The funds will support the Foundation’s work in providing vital facilities and therapies for people with diverse abilities and acute sensory impairments. Agilico, which took all 35 charity places for the run, saw […]
Chancellor Rachel Reeves is facing pressure from lobbyists representing the UK’s 74,000 non-domiciled residents (non-doms) to scale back her planned tax changes, ahead of her upcoming budget. The newly formed group, Foreign Investors for Britain, is set to meet with government officials this week to urge a reconsideration of Reeves’s proposed overhaul of the non-dom […]
Growing concerns about tax increases have led nearly 30% of business owners in the UK to accelerate plans to sell their companies, according to new analysis from wealth management firm Evelyn Partners. The survey, conducted among 500 business owners with turnovers of at least £5 million, found that 29% of respondents had sped up their […]
eBay is set to ban the sale of e-bikes and their batteries by private individuals in the UK from 31 October, citing rising concerns over battery fires. From this date, only “eligible business sellers” will be permitted to list these items, though the company has not yet clarified the specific criteria for eligibility. E-bikes, which […]
Three private Christian schools and a group of parents are preparing to launch a legal challenge against the government’s plan to impose VAT on school fees. Emmanuel School in Derby, the Branch Christian School in Yorkshire, and the King’s School in Hampshire, alongside parents, claim that the tax will unlawfully discriminate against faith-based schools and […]
The number of children in private education has dropped by 10,000 over the past year as parents anticipate the introduction of VAT on school fees in January, according to the Independent Schools Council (ISC). The organisation estimates the move could cost the government an additional £93 million to educate these pupils in state schools. A […]