HMRC tax-dodging prosecutions drop – and it has no plans to change that May 3, 2023 HMRC is prosecuting far fewer people for tax dodging than before the pandemic, an influential committee of MPs has warned. Over the two pandemic years, the tax authority completed around 1,000 fewer prosecutions for tax-related offences than before the pandemic, a report by the influential Public Accounts Committee found. In 2020–21 and 2021–22, it concluded [...]
New tax year: First saver to max out ISA allowance took just six minutes after midnight April 7, 2023 Some savers have already maxed out their new 2023-24 Isa allowances within hours – or even minutes – of the new tax year starting. Fidelity International Personal Investing said the first customer to maximise their new Isa allowance of £20,000 did so at six minutes past midnight on Thursday April 6. Ed Monk, associate director, [...]
A new tax year has started, here’s what you should be doing April 5, 2023 Savers have welcomed in a new tax year, starting Thursday 6 April. These include putting savings into tax free accounts such as Isas; the annual contributions limit for Isas will remain frozen in the 2023/24 tax year, from April 6, at £20,000. Sarah Coles, head of personal finance at financial services provider Hargreaves Lansdown, said: [...]
Dubai court upholds extradition of British financier accused of £1.4bn tax fraud April 4, 2023 A court in Dubai on Monday rejected the appeal of a British financier fighting extradition to Denmark, where he is accused of orchestrating a 1.7 billion US dollar (£1.4 billion) tax fraud. Hedge fund trader Sanjay Shah is accused of masterminding a scheme that ran from 2012 to 2015 in which foreign businesses pretended to [...]
Capital gains tax allowance changes to hit half a million investors’ profits as tax year begins April 4, 2023 Investors are being warned to be aware of the halving in the tax free amount of profit they can make when selling valuable assets, such as shares or a second home. Wealth manager Nutmeg said investors were likely to be caught out by capital gains tax (CGT) changes coming in on 6 April. After then [...]
No firms charged with ‘failure to prevent’ tax evasion in 6 years – here’s why April 3, 2023 The UK taxman has not charged any British firm with the ‘failure to prevent tax evasion’ offence since it was introduced six years ago, HMRC has confirmed. Under the offence, introduced in 2017, a British company can be criminally prosecuted if it was found to have not put adequate checks and systems to prevent its [...]
Succession – planning that is – and why you don’t need to be as rich as Logan Roy to secure your family’s financial future March 31, 2023 Rivalry and revenge are rife within the Roy family – the dysfunctional clan that returned to screens this week in the Sky series‘Succession’. Camilla Stowell, head of private and commercial clients at Coutts said: “The drama uncovers how emotional conversations about intergenerational wealth and succession planning can be. “However, in reality the process can be [...]
No new taxes: Labour’s Reeves pledges not to increase CGT limit March 30, 2023 Labour does not plan to increase capital gains tax, shadow chancellor Rachel Reeves has indicated, despite deputy leader Angela Rayner appearing to suggest rates were too low. Prime Minister Rishi Sunak last week released a summary of his tax affairs, which showed that his tax rate was about 22 per cent because most of his [...]
Pensions, Isas, child benefit limits and inheritance tax: Your ten point end of tax year checklist March 29, 2023 In five year’s time the annual income of another 2.1 million taxpayers will fall into the higher rate tax threshold, a rise of 47 per cent, according to the Office for Budget Responsibility (OBR). The threshold has been frozen since April 2021 – and is expected to stay frozen until April 2028 while the threshold [...]
HSBC, SocGen and BNP Paribas raided in France as part of ‘cum cum’ tax probe March 28, 2023 French authorities today raided the Paris offices of five major banks – including HSBC, BNP Paribas, and Société Générale – in relation to an ongoing fraud and money laundering investigation. In a statement, France’s national fraud prosecutor said the raids relate to a preliminary investigation into so-called ‘cum cum’ schemes, which was opened in December [...]