Employees miss out on pension contributions
£535 million of pension contributions have been lost over the last 3 years, due to employees opting out of auto-enrolment, according to new research published by NOW: Pensions. Employees earning £26,500 have lost £1,247 of possible contributions with £624 being paid...
Insurance industry pays out £77 million a day
Insurers paid out around £77 million a day in insurance claims, statistics released by the Association of British Insurers (ABI) show. The UK has the largest insurance and long term savings industry in Europe and the third largest in the world. As well as paying out...
Businesses fail to invest in people and technology
Businesses are not investing in the staff, technology and equipment needed to boost productivity, says a new report by the Chartered Institute of Personnel and Development (CIPD). The survey of 1,000 businesses found that despite 2 years of improving economic growth,...
Avoidance crackdown nets record collection for HMRC
The government has now collected a record £1 billion in tax payments from individuals using tax avoidance schemes as a result of new collection rules, according to HMRC. The new rules for accelerated payments, which mean that disputed tax is now paid upfront by...
Awareness and uptake in Government investment schemes uneven
The system of claiming tax relief on investments should be used by the government to make investment easier and fully realise the potential of existing schemes, a new report by the Institute of Directors (IOD) argues. The report focuses on the Enterprise Investment...
Business confidence cools
Small business confidence is slowing down, according to the Federation of Small Businesses (FSB). The survey of more than 1,500 businesses found that 58% expect to grow in the next 12 months compared to 65% a year ago. In addition, 22% of firms plan to invest this...
Average lifetime tax bill shows annual rise
The average UK household pays almost three quarters of a million pounds in taxes over the course of a lifetime, according to research by The Taxpayers' Alliance (TPA). Analysis of 2013/14 figures from the Office for National Statistics shows that households pay an...
New tax evasion plans revealed
HMRC has released further details about how it plans to crack down on offshore tax evasion. Treasury officials announced plans to create a new strict liability offence for offshore tax evasion following Budget 2015 in March. Strict liability refers to a criminal...
Reporting standards for small firms simplified
The Financial Reporting Council (FRC) has introduced new accounting standards designed to simplify reporting for small and micro businesses. Micro businesses will now have to report to a different standard than small businesses under the new FRS 105, while small...
Dividend tax credits replaced by new allowance
Dividend tax credits will be replaced with a new £5,000 tax-free allowance from April 2016, the Chancellor George Osborne announced during his Summer Budget statement. Under current rules dividend income is reduced with tax credits. Basic rate taxpayers currently pay...