INVESTIGATIONS

A former policeman was jailed for his part in an attempted £330m VAT fraud, the largest of its kind in the UK. Nigel Cranswick and five others were caught by HMRC investigators after claiming that their new business Ideas 2 Go Ltd sold more than 6m mobile phones in eight months.

‘Business is “seriously concerned” about the risk of a backlash from the handling of tax avoidance disputes, according to the CBI, as it stepped into a row over the Revenue’s dealings with big companies.

MPs are set to consider whether to ‘formally call’ for Dave Hartnett to step down as HMRC’s top tax official over his handling of disputes with large companies, The Times has reported.

Dave Hartnett’s speech at yesterday’s Tax Journal conference was interrupted by protestors from UK Uncut. Dressed as ‘executives from Vodafone and Goldman Sachs’, the protestors staged a ‘mock thank you’ for Hartnett’s role in settling recent tax...

HMRC has announced the launch of five new task forces to tackle tax evasion by:

‘A controversial tax deal between Goldman Sachs and HM Revenue & Customs, which saw the investment bank agree a settlement that reportedly saved it millions of pounds in interest, could face a challenge in the High Court.

The former President of the Association of Taxation Technicians and three business associates have been charged with stealing £5m through a tax fraud targeting the pension industry, HMRC has announced. Andrew Meeson, aged 50, of George Street,...

Following a recent HMRC briefing for professional advisers, Aileen Barry reviews the terms of the draft UK/Swiss Agreement, speculates as to how HMRC will interpret it and how the Swiss banks will implement it, and considers what the actual outcome will be

Tax campaigners have called for the ‘immediate cancellation’ of the UK government’s tax agreement with Switzerland. The Tax Justice Network published details of ten ‘escape routes’ in the agreement, which is designed to tackle evasion by British residents using secret Swiss bank acccounts.