Capital gains tax – are we likely to see major changes? The Chancellor has recently asked the Office of Tax Simplification (OTS ) to carry out a review of CGT to identify simplification opportunities. Remember that CGT is paid by individuals and trusts; companies pay corporation tax on chargeable gains. The call for evidence is in two…

Following the Chancellor’s Summer Statement yesterday I posted a blog simply summarising what he had announced. Now, nearly 24 hours later, I’ve had a chance to reflect on what was said, and I can’t for the life of me believe that he’s got it right. I don’t normally comment on political issues but confine myself…

A range of measures to boost the UK economy in the wake of the Covid-19 pandemic has been announced by Chancellor Rishi Sunak. They include VAT cuts for the hospitality sector, a Job Retention Bonus for companies, a Stamp Duty Land Tax cut and an ‘Eat Out to Help Out’ discount. In a statement to the…

HM Treasury and HMRC have set out new timelines for tax policy consultations and other work in the light of the current Covid-19 crisis. As I comment further below, this is welcome news but I would have gone much further… In summary: • There will be a three-month extension to many consultation deadlines to give…

This was the first Budget of the new government, the first Budget for 18 months, and the first Budget of the new Chancellor, Rishi Sunak. It followed a Bank of England interest base rate cut from 0.75% to 0.25% (50 basis points) announced earlier in the day. Whilst the first Budget of a new Parliament…

On 11 March, Sajid Javid will present his first Budget as Chancellor of the Exchequer, which will also be the first Budget in nearly a year and a half. It’s also the first Budget presented by a government with a sizeable majority in Parliament for a decade or so. The first Budget of any new…

When I started my career in tax, we had Retirement Relief; very few people will remember it. Then we had Business Asset Taper Relief; some of you will remember that. Now we have Entrepreneurs’ Relief; but for how much longer? According to a recent article in The Times, this “loophole” (really? It is a Government…

What do politicians want to do with tax? They want to raise revenue to fund public spending and they want to use tax policy as a political carrot. Clearly the two completely contradict each other. Most people don’t like paying tax. It’s the nature of my work that a lot of people ask how they…

HMRC has recently published the 2019 edition of Measuring tax gaps which shows estimates of tax lost in 2017/18. Worryingly, the “gap” for 2018/18 is estimated at £35 bn, or 5.6% of total tax due. The 2017/17 figure was £33 bn (5.7%), so little progress has been made in reducing this. How does this fit,…

Innovation – why we’re missing a trick for early-stage financing There’s a market failure in financing early-stage technology companies. Anyone who watches “Dragons’ Den” will know there’s a fine balance between risk and reward, but for early-stage technology companies, a number of factors combine to make this an extremely tough area. The thoughts and solution…