HMRC’s top tax official told MPs yesterday that he was very sorry that HMRC made a ‘mistake’ resulting in no interest being charged on national insurance contributions payable by Goldman Sachs following the failure of an avoidance scheme.
HMRC’s head of tax was set to face questions from MPs today over a settlement with Goldman Sachs in which the bank was ‘forgiven’ interest of £10m on a failed tax avoidance scheme, according to reports in Private Eye and today’s Guardian.
Ninety-eight of the 100 biggest groups listed on the London stock exchange use tax havens, according to the charity ActionAid, showing ‘just how embedded the use of tax havens is in the structures of nearly all Britain’s biggest companies’.
David Harkness examines the standard of care required by taxpayers in filing corporation tax returns, and finds that the law is suprisingly unclear
Dominic Stuttaford and Ed Denny assess the impact of the Advocate General's Opinion in the case of National Grid Indus BV
Government debt is more important now than ever. Ian Carnochan provides background to UK government gilts and explains their tax treatment
James Bullock explains the best course of action for resolving a tax dispute
The government is consulting on plans to allow more small companies to decide whether to have an audit and a proposal to give companies preparing accounts under IFRS ‘more flexibility’ to change to UK GAAP.
Opinion among respondents to the recent consultation on a proposed financial transaction tax was ‘strongly polarised’, the European Commission said. Little has changed, judging by initial reaction to the Commission’s detailed proposal for a Council Directive introducing a Europe-wide FTT.