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Late payment penalties for taxpayers within the Making Tax Digital (MTD) regime are set to increase from the start of the new tax year, the Chancellor announced in her first Spring Statement.   As part of a general push to close the tax gap, late payers will face an increase in penalty rates from 1st…

The Ely Office held an MTD for ITSA seminar on 30th April which invited clients to have an insight into the upcoming changes for self-employed business owners and landlords with total combined turnover above £50,000. What Did The Day Include? The seminar started with a brief summary of the upcoming changes along with 3 summaries…

Many people choose to donate to charity for a range of reasons, often influenced by personal experiences or the impact of someone they know. While tax benefits are rarely the primary motivation, there are several reliefs and considerations to keep in mind.   My recent article, for the Suffolk Community Foundation, highlights some of the…

As part of their modernisation and cost cutting exercise, HMRC have announced that they will start to send emails and texts to taxpayers in a bid to reduce postage costs.   HMRC have said that they are ‘committed to modernising HMRC to become a digital first organisation’, which means they will move their communication to…

Mandating the Reporting of Employment Benefits and Expenses The mandatory payrolling of employment benefits and expenses was due to be introduced from 6th April 2026. However, the Government has recently announced that this will now be delayed one year to 6th April 2027.   The Government has acknowledged that employers, payroll professionals and agents needed…

Redefining ‘Exceptional Circumstances’: A Human-Centric Approach to the Statutory Residence Test (SRT)   The case of ‘A Taxpayer v HMRC [2025]’ is a significant decision by the Court of Appeal redefining the interpretation of ‘exceptional circumstances’ for the purposes of the UK’s Statutory Residence Test (SRT), and rules that a sufficiently compelling moral obligation can…

Happy New Tax Year!   Now that the new tax year has begun it is time to look at taking advantage of the tax opportunities provided by the renewal of your tax allowances whilst also being the best time to gather and prepare your information for the previous tax year (2024/25).   We will be…

Following Rachel Reeves’ recent Spring Statement, it is clear the government will be cracking down harder on tax advisors, unveiling a 6- week consultation to give HMRC more power to tackle those facilitating non-compliance. Proposals are set to increase scrutiny and issue fines of up to £3,000 a day on UK firms if HMRC suspect…

As I am sure we are all aware, HMRC are able to open investigations into the accuracy of tax returns, VAT returns, payroll, etc. via targeted, or random tax enquiries. With an ever increasing budget deficit we fully expect HMRC to raise more enquiries in the coming years to increase tax revenues.   How Can…

The UK government’s Making Tax Digital (MTD) initiative aims to modernise the tax system by requiring individuals and businesses to maintain digital records and submit regular updates to HM Revenue & Customs (HMRC). Initially, MTD for Income Tax Self-Assessment (ITSA) was set to apply to sole traders and landlords with income over £50,000 from April…