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Tax investigations and disputes specialists keep up-to-date with the latest investigative approaches being taken by HMRC’s most aggressive investigators. They are found in HMRC’s Fraud Investigation Service (FIS), where the approach to cases if large amounts of tax are believed to be at risk or suspicions of tax fraud are made, has not changed much at all. 

Amit Puri looks at intrusive and in-depth tax investigations, and considers when jail time is likely.

No one wants to pay more tax than they need to. However, this is exactly what will happen if you fail to take account of all allowable expenses in calculating your taxable profit. It is important, therefore, that as a self-employed trader, you keep accurate records of the expenses that you incur in running your business, and you also understand what can be deducted – and what cannot.

Sarah Bradford outlines the rules governing whether an expense incurred by a self-employed trader can be deducted in calculating their taxable profit.

We are now little more than a year away from the phased introduction of making tax digital (MTD) for income tax self-assessment (MTD ITSA).

Lee Sharpe looks at the latest developments in making tax digital. 

Business property relief (BPR) offers inheritance tax (IHT) relief of 100% or 50% in respect of ‘relevant business property’. For example, BPR at up to 100% is presently available on an unincorporated business interest, or shares in an unquoted trading company. 

Mark McLaughlin highlights a case on the distinction between qualifying and non-qualifying business activities for inheritance tax business property relief purposes.

A company is a separate legal entity, distinct from the shareholders that own it. Consequently, if the directors and shareholders want to use the profits made by the company for their personal use, they will need to extract those profits first. There are various ways in which this can be done; some are more tax-efficient than others.  

Sarah Bradford considers options for extracting profits from a company in a tax-efficient manner in the 2024/25 tax year.

HMRC recently undertook a ‘One to Many’ letter campaign, wherein HMRC’s skilled data analysts undertake to mine nuggets from a huge range of sources to test for omissions or errors in tax returns. 

Lee Sharpe reports on HMRC getting all ‘Nancy Drew’ with its sleuthing over company reporting and shareholders’ dividend income returns. 

Some company shareholders may either be unaware or have forgotten about a relatively unknown capital gains tax (CGT) relief that offers a reduced CGT rate of only 10% on qualifying gains of up to £10m during their lifetime, if certain conditions are satisfied.  

Mark McLaughlin highlights a relatively unknown and infrequently used but generous capital gains tax relief.

Owner-managers can spend a significant amount of time and energy building a successful and profitable trading company.

Joe Brough looks at tax issues for business taxpayers and their tax advisers when a company is coming to an end.