The National Insurance Number (NINO) is, perhaps, the most important number an individual will ever be allocated as it is used by many organisations for many different purposes.
It is extremely important that NI history is recorded against the NINO for entitlement to some State benefits, particularly State Pension

When it comes to payroll processing, the NINO is a vital piece of ‘matching data’ for HMRC.
Essentially, this unique number is used to match an employee in payroll software to an individual on HMRC’s system.
Where there is a…

Agents tell us that getting a response from HMRC can be time-consuming. Indeed, this was expressed to the Chancellor of the Exchequer in a
letter
from several accountancy bodies who, collectively, represent thousands of accountants. HMRC service levels result in frustration, not least cash-flow disruption.
The letter sought to raise the issue ahead of the Spring Budget 2023, indicating that this presented an opportunity to ‘invest in HMRC, with a focus on improving customer service and effectiveness’.

In May 2023, well after the Spring Budget, Victoria Atkins, Financial…

The Pandora Papers consists of 11.9 million leaked documents from 14 offshore financial service companies. This information was gradually released by the International Consortium of Investigative Journalists from October 2021 onwards.
HMRC has been reviewing this data and is now writing to around 600 people named in those papers. This is only the first tranche of the total number of taxpayers who HMRC will contact as a result of this information coming to light.
The HMRC letter asks the taxpayer to review their disclosure of offshore income or gains on…

But what happens if the company makes a large profit (capital gain) on selling an asset in the accounting period that straddles 1 April 2023?
The corporation tax rules require the portions of the accounting year which fall in the two financial years: FY22 (commencing 1 April 2022) and FY23 (from 1 April 2023) to be treated as separate accounting periods.
The profits of the whole accounting year, including any capital gains, need to be apportioned between those periods falling in FY22 and in FY23.
The thresholds at which…

Brexit has introduced a VAT border between Great Britain and Northern Ireland, the implications of which are still being worked through.

From 1 May 2023, second-hand vehicles which are purchased in Great Britain then sold in Northern Ireland have to carry VAT on the full selling price. Before this date motor traders could use the second-hand margin scheme under which VAT is charged only on the margin of sales value added by the dealer.

To compensate these dealers, HMRC has introduced a…