The most recent Comment from Accountancy Age

Swept away on a tide of tax

Alex Hawkes — 2008-09-04T18:30:00.000Z

Alex Hawkes, Accountancy Age, Thursday 4 September 2008 at 18:30:00

The UK’s tax system is at a crucial turning point

Companies are exiting the country, saying they fear the government’s new initiatives on foreign profits. Meanwhile, the chancellor is being urged to impose a windfall tax on energy companies’ profits....

Tax system: keeping it simple

Derek Allen, ICAS — 2008-08-14T17:42:00.000Z

Derek Allen, ICAS, Accountancy Age, Thursday 14 August 2008 at 17:42:00

Simplicity is key when it comes to making the tax system understandable

Significant simplification is urgently required to restore some sense to the tax system. Surely the tax code should be understandable by those who need to interpret it to determine their...

The simple fact is, change is difficult

Damian Wild — 2008-07-17T17:26:00.000Z

Damian Wild, Accountancy Age, Thursday 17 July 2008 at 17:26:00

Can business life be simplified? The Tories think so. Auditors agree. And the FRC is with them too. It’s turning into a summer of simplification. Or at least a summer of good intentions

Last week shadow chancellor George Osborne unveiled Conservative plans to simplify the UK tax system. Publishing the recommendations of the Howe Group Report into Tax Simplification, a policy group led...

Tax reform: a recipe for disaster

Anne Redston — 2008-07-17T17:17:00.000Z

Anne Redston, Accountancy Age, Thursday 17 July 2008 at 17:17:00

Lord Howe's report on tax reform lacks a vital ingredient

Lord Howe’s recent Making Taxes Simpler report has been widely welcomed, and rightly so. It criticises the exponential growth of the tax code, fiscal complexity and the government’s repeated failures...

Time the taxman got a grip

Dennis Keeling — 2008-06-26T00:29:00.000Z

Dennis Keeling, Accountancy Age, Thursday 26 June 2008 at 00:29:00

Tax payers are struggling to electronically file valid self assessment forms due to IT errors at HMRC

One of the worst IT disasters in years has been steadily unfolding for HMRC. Tax agents are unable to electronically file perfectly valid self assessment forms because of hundreds of...

Tax practices: image unconscious

Gavin Hinks — 2008-06-05T23:39:00.000Z

Gavin Hinks, Accountancy Age, Thursday 5 June 2008 at 23:39:00

In this week’s issue of Accountancy Age we raise the prospect that the tax profession has lost its attraction for graduates because of its association, mostly unfairly, with dodgy tax practices

This is because, our feature explains, graduates are concerned with ethics and social responsibility and are bringing these attitudes to bear when deciding who to work for....

Tax policy: leave it to the experts

Richard Mannion — 2008-04-24T00:00:00.000Z

Richard Mannion, Accountancy Age, Thursday 24 April 2008 at 00:00:00

When it comes to tax policy, knee-jerk reactions will not suffice

Tax has rarely been out of the news recently. With non-dom issues, changes to capital gains tax and proposals to attack income shifting in family-owned businesses, tax has hit the...

Residence rules: final countdown

John Cullinane — 2008-04-03T00:00:00.000Z

John Cullinane, Accountancy Age, Thursday 3 April 2008 at 00:00:00

Residence rules should be governed by a clear-cut rule

In all the furore over non-doms, attention has moved away from ‘residence’. But what makes you a tax resident in the UK in any given tax year? Disputed cases on...

The heat is off - but not for long

Alex Hawkes — 2008-03-27T00:00:00.000Z

Alex Hawkes, Accountancy Age, Thursday 27 March 2008 at 00:00:00

The Budget didn’t do wonders for the government’s poll ratings, but the Treasury and HM Revenue & Customs may at least reflect that the heat is, at last, no longer on them

The government is unpopular because the economy is in the doldrums, not for its tax policy, as previously. The non-dom heat is off, the CGT row is over....

Business tax: keep it in the family

John Brazier — 2008-03-06T00:00:00.000Z

John Brazier, Accountancy Age, Thursday 6 March 2008 at 00:00:00

The Government seems to be the only fan of its family business tax proposals

The new family business tax proposals have been dominating my attention recently, and apparently I’m not the only one. Fed-up with being told by the Professional Contractors’ Group (PCG) and...

On the money with Gavin Hinks

Gavin Hinks — 2008-03-06T00:00:00.000Z

Gavin Hinks, Accountancy Age, Thursday 6 March 2008 at 00:00:00

I hope Dave Hartnett, acting head of HM Revenue and Customs, never has to to meet Prince Alois, Crown Prince of Lichtenstein, face to face

In the annals of celebrity grudge matches (if either can be described as a celebrity) it would be one to watch for tax advisers and accountants....

Make-believe world of tax

Ken Wild and Elizabeth Chrispin — 2008-02-28T00:00:00.000Z

Ken Wild and Elizabeth Chrispin, Accountancy Age, Thursday 28 February 2008 at 00:00:00

Revamp of IAS 12 should shed some light on current tax

The International Accounting Standards Board is expected to issue proposals later this year introducing significant changes to the current standard on accounting for tax, IAS12, including some proposals on accounting...

The spy who taxed me

Accountancy age — 2008-02-28T00:00:00.000Z

Accountancy age, Accountancy Age, Thursday 28 February 2008 at 00:00:00

HM Revenue & Customs is beginning to make a habit of venturing into unchartered waters

Earlier this month it was the news that tax inspectors could soon be listening in to your business discussions via a bugging device officially sanctioned under new legislation....

Tax policy must wean, not be mean

Roy Maugham — 2008-02-21T00:00:00.000Z

Roy Maugham, Accountancy Age, Thursday 21 February 2008 at 00:00:00

Fiscal drag is netting the government an extra £500m income per year

The Government’s failure to increase the threshold at which taxpayers pay the higher rate of income tax in line with wage inflation has dragged 700,000 people into the 40% tax...

On the money with Gavin Hinks

2008-02-21T00:00:00.000Z

Accountancy Age, Thursday 21 February 2008 at 00:00:00

Every leader needs a fall guy, the sacrificial lamb that steps in front of the speeding bullet to defend the great man from harm. In the non-dom argument last week we saw just that

The head of HM Revenue & Customs Dave Hartnett facilitated a bit of back tracking by the chancellor, by writing a letter to the City saying it was all a...