Figures released by HMRC today show that the Treasury raked in £5.7 billion in inheritance tax receipts in the nine months from April to December 2023. This is £400 million more than in the same period a year earlier, continuing the upward trend. One in every 25 estates pay inheritance tax, although the proportion of […]
The House of Lords has voted for a motion to delay ratifying the Government’s new treaty with Rwanda. While the motion is not binding on the Government, support for it provides an indication of the uphill battle the Government faces over the next two months to get Rishi Sunak’s deportation plan through the Lords. Some […]
More than 47,000 UK companies are on the brink of collapse after a 25% jump in the number of businesses facing “critical” financial distress in the final three months of 2023, according to a report. It marks the second consecutive quarter-on-quarter period when critical financial distress has risen by a 25%, the latest “Red Flag” […]
HMRC has not charged a single company under landmark legislation passed six years ago to crack down on corporate tax evasion. Critics say the data, released under freedom of information laws to the Bureau of Investigative Journalism and TaxWatch, suggests that HMRC is undermining its own deterrents against corporate tax evasion by failing to use […]
The Chancellor, Jeremy Hunt, has given a strong hint that he wants to cut taxes in the spring Budget. Mr Hunt said that countries with lower taxes have more “dynamic, faster growing economies”. In the Autumn Statement, the chancellor reduced national insurance for workers by 2% and announced tax relief for businesses. If inflation falls, […]
A cross-party group of MPs have slammed HMRC over its tactics and approach to enforcing the Loan Charge and said it drew “frightening” parallels with the Post Office Horizon scandal. The Loan Charge was introduced to recover taxes from workers who operated arrangements that paid income often in the form of loans, which advertised themselves […]
Purchases of new Bentley cars have fallen sharply because of the state of the global economy, according to the company that assembles the luxury vehicles in Cheshire. Bentley Motor Cars, a division of Volkswagen, the German group, said it had sold 13,560 vehicles in 2023, 1,600 fewer than in the previous year, a fall of […]
Google has announced a billion-dollar investment in a UK data centre in a move hailed by the government as a “huge vote of confidence in Britain”. The data centre, which will be built on a 33-acre site in Hertfordshire, will power Google’s cloud and AI services for British customers and will be the company’s third […]
Sainsbury’s is to wind down its banking division as it continues to focus on its core food business. The supermarket said it planned a “phased withdrawal” from its core banking business, but said the 1.9 million customers of the service would see no immediate changes. Sainsbury’s Bank currently offers loans, credit cards and savings accounts. […]
Spotify has launched an outspoken attack on new transaction fees of up to 27% being levied by Apple in the US. On Wednesday, Apple announced it would permit app developers to sell products in places other than its own store – but only if they still paid commission. Spotify said that was “outrageous” and accused […]