Taxing Matters

With increasing pressure on HMRC to collect more tax with less resource, it is more important than ever to communicate effectively with HMRC. In this episode we are joined by Annis Lampard , who leads the tax disclosure and transparency team at Deloitte, to discuss the benefits of a more open dialogue with the Revenue and the steps you should take to improve lines of communication. With a particul...

In a much anticipated follow up to our previous episode on the Law Commission's consultation on the law of corporate crime in the UK, we are delighted to be joined by Dr Robin Lööf to dive a little deeper into the key issues at the heart of this important topic. Robin considers the various options for reform currently being debated and discusses whether, in practice, the law of corporate criminal...

In this episode, we are delighted to be joined by fellow tax podcast host Jack Bonehill, the man behind the fantastic Tax Professionals Podcast series. Through his podcast, Jack aims to provide easily digestible information to tax professionals to help them progress and develop their careers. We put Jack in the hot seat and pick his brain on the suite of complimentary resources he has created to a...

From the team behind Taxing Matters, we are delighted to be able to share with you a short preview of our newest podcast – Unspoken Giants: International Financial Institutions . Launching soon, in a world first the Unspoken Giants series will bring together senior leaders from the largest International Financial Institutions (IFIs) and Multilateral Development Banks (MDBs) to discuss their fight...

In a world of increasing digitisation, globalisation and remote working, now more than ever taxpayers are starting to ask "how are HMRC going to find out?".  In this episode, Jay Sanghrajka , international tax partner at Price Bailey, joins us to explain how HMRC might find out! Historically, HMRC's investigations were often commenced as a consequence of discrepancies in a taxpayer's record k...

Given the complexity and, at times, lack of clarity in our tax system, concerns have been raised about the extent of HMRC's powers, particularly regarding the range of penalties that can be imposed for innocent mistakes, and the severity of penalties that can be imposed in relation to offshore matters. There's no 'quick fix' but it is important that there is effective oversight of HMRC.  In t...

Twelve years on from the seismic changes to the UK tax appeals system that introduced the First-tier Tribunal and the Upper Tribunal, the Tax Law Review Committee (TLRC) has published its Report " The tax tribunals: the next 10 years ". Intended to be a review of how the tax tribunal system has operated and providing recommendations for changes required for the next 10 years, the Report considers...

Many commentators have questioned whether the law relating to corporate criminal liability is still fit for purpose or whether it is due a significant overhaul. The Law Commission has been asked by the Ministry of Justice, Home Office, Department for Business Energy and Industrial Strategy, HM Treasury and the Attorney General's Office, to consult on how the law of corporate criminal liability fun...

A little over 18 months ago and the idea of government enforced national lockdowns would have seemed like a very unlikely Orwellian concept indeed and yet, since then, over 100 countries have instituted at least one lockdown, affecting billions of people worldwide. In this episode, we are joined by Price Bailey's Nikita Cooper to discuss the myriad of unintended consequences lockdowns have had on...

With financial pressure mounting on the Government, and with an additional 1000 new fraud investigators announced in the last budget, many expect the frequency of HMRC dawn raids to increase considerably. From HMRC cars used as battering rams to offices swarmed by bulletproof vest wearing investigators (both real events albeit not typical!), we are joined by Michelle Sloane in this episode who sha...

In this episode of Taxing Matters we are joined by John Cassidy, a Tax Resolutions Partner at accountancy firm Crowe UK. A tax veteran of over 25 years, when it comes to tax investigations, what John hasn't experienced, written about or lectured on isn't worth knowing! In this extremely practical discussion, John takes us through the lifecycle of a HMRC enquiry using real-life case studies to high...

In this latest episode of Taxing Matters we take a closer look at the recent case of Asholt and Arundell v HMRC , which involved a challenge to the lawfulness of a search warrant which had been executed by HMRC. Leading barrister Jonathan Fisher QC, who has over 30 years of experience in financial fraud and tax cases and founder of Bright Line Law, joins us to discuss how you can challenge the law...

In a special cross-over episode with our sister podcast Insurance Covered , this episode looks at the growth in popularity of tax liability insurance. Giles Hambly, a Tax Specialist in the Major Risks Practice at global insurance broker Gallagher joins us to explain what tax liability insurance covers, how it works in practice and why many businesses are now choosing to take it out. From potential...

In this episode, we are joined by Simon York, Director of HMRC's Fraud Investigation Service (FIS). Created only five years ago, FIS has already secured 3,700 criminal convictions for serious fraud and protected over £25 billion in assets. By exploiting the latest developments in virtual currencies, encrypted communications and financial systems, tax fraud is becoming increasingly complex. Simon t...

Twenty episodes ago, in early summer last year, our Taxing Matters podcast focused on the newly emerging risk of furlough fraud . Now, nearly a year on (and three iterations of the Coronavirus Job Retention Scheme later) David Francis , Head of Tax Dispute Resolution at Grant Thornton, joins us to discuss this important and evolving topic. At the outset, a key concern was whether the speed with wh...

The backlog of criminal cases (especially for those relating to fraud) has increased considerably. It is reaching worrying levels resulting in administrative difficulties and substantial cost, both in financial and emotional terms. In the past year, the number of outstanding Crown Court trials has risen by over 40% with trial dates now being fixed up to four years after the time of the alleged off...

With now over 100 countries signed up to the international information exchange known as the Common Reporting Standard (CRS), last year HMRC received 84 million details of bank accounts covering one in 10 UK citizens. As CRS data is increasingly used by HRMC to identify who should be targeted for investigation and "nudge letters", it is vital that individuals and businesses understand what informa...

Described by a previous guest on Taxing Matters as “the last bastion of the citizen against the Government", the importance of judicial reviews cannot be overstated. Yet, with the Government launching an independent review into judicial reviews, could the outcome spell future limitations and curtail the rights of businesses to access this important legal challenge? In this episode Saima Hanif QC ,...

March 8th is International Women's Day, and to mark the occasion this episode of the Taxing Matters podcast features five empowering women who have all strived to encourage diversity and inclusion in the workplace. Our guest speakers all come from very different backgrounds and include a global tax correspondent at the FT, a former Tax VP at Sony and the owner of a successful consulting group. The...

We are experiencing a surge in economic crime – the National Crime Agency estimates fraud alone costs UK businesses around £140 billion a year. With the CPS, the SFO, and other prosecutors barely able to scrape the tip of the iceberg, many businesses have turned to private prosecutions to recoup losses and protect their reputation. In this episode we are delighted to be joined by leading expert Wi...

From the 1st January 2021 the new UK sanctions framework officially came into force under the Sanctions and Anti-Money Laundering Act 2018 (SAMLA). Notably, SAMLA was one of the first of the first Acts passed as a direct result of Brexit. In this podcast episode, we are joined by guest speaker Alex Haines , a Barrister at Outer Temple Chambers specialising in international law, business crime and...

In this episode, we are joined by Taxing Matters podcast returnee, Harry Smith, to give us a crash course in procedural arguments in the context of a dispute with HMRC – and why they are sometimes referred to unfairly as "technicalities". Show references Mosson v Revenue & Customs [2020] UKFTT 359 HMRC v Tooth [2019] EWCA Civ 826 Credit Suisse Securities (Europe) Ltd and others v HMRC [2020] U...

In this episode, we are joined by Sam Dean, who spearheads HMRC's campaign to raise awareness of the corporate criminal offence of failure to prevent tax evasion. With this being the first "fail to prevent" style offence dealt with by HMRC, podcast host, Alice Kemp, quizzes Sam on what exactly this means, where your business may be at risk of liability and what you can do to prevent that from happ...

In this episode, we are joined by Bloomberg finance reporter Donal Griffin. For the past 18 months Donal has been following the development of the multi-billion tax trading scandal known as CumEx. While you may well have heard of financial scandals like LIBOR rigging and FX market manipulation, CumEx is probably the biggest scandal that you've never heard of. From billions of Euros at stake to wid...

In this episode, Keith Gordon joins Alice Kemp to discuss the Loan Charge; a topic very dear to his heart and one that has had a devastating impact on many who have been victims of schemes. Keith is a barrister at Temple Tax Chambers, and before qualifying to the Bar, was a Chartered Accountant and a Chartered Tax Adviser. He brings this rounded tax experience to bear in this episode, charting the...