Firm loses £100m offshore tax avoidance bid

Investment Week: A tax avoidance scheme sold by serial avoidance promoter NT Advisors has lost its third bid for legitimacy, saving the country £100m, HM Revenue & Customs (HMRC) has said.

Full story: http://www.investmentweek.co.uk/investment-week/news/2326210/firm-loses-gbp100m-offshore-tax-avoidance-bid?

Seddons boosts private client offering with new partner appointment

Seddons: Seddons, a leading law practice based in London’s West End, today announces the appointment of James Ward as a partner within its Private Client team.

Full story: http://www.seddons.co.uk/NewsInsight/News/2014-01-15/Seddons-boosts-private-client-offering-with-new-partner-appointment-/

How many people pay the top rate of income tax?

The Guardian: Plans to restore the 50p tax rate have reignited an old political debate - but how many people are in the highest income tax band and how much money does it raise? 

Full story: http://www.theguardian.com/news/datablog/2014/jan/27/how-many-pay-top-rate-of-income-tax-uk?

Tax avoiders to pay up while HMRC investigates schemes

Accountancy Age: Users of of tax avoidance schemes are to be compelled to by their tax bills upfront while HM Revenue & Customs conducts investigations into their arrangements, under proposals announced by the Treasury.

Full story: http://www.accountancyage.com/aa/news/2325276/tax-avoiders-to-pay-up-while-hmrc-investigates-schemes?

UK/Swiss tax deal flops

Economia: The agreement between the two countries, which came into force on January 1 2013 was forecast by the chancellor to raise £5bn over the next six years, with £3.2bn recovered in the 2013. Public finance figures published yesterday by the Office for National Statistics, however, showed just £800m had been collected in 2013.

Full story: http://economia.icaew.com/news/january-2014/swiss-tax-agreement-flops

Income tax, VAT and SDLT drive increase in tax take

Accountancy Live: Latest HMRC statistics suggest the total tax take is starting to rise as the economy moves into recovery, with higher levels of receipts driven primarily by increases in the amounts received from income tax, NICs and stamp duty land tax (SDLT) and VAT in particular in the second half of last year.

Full story: http://www.accountancylive.com/croner/jsp/Editorial.do?channelId=-601014&contentId=2931100