The government has confirmed that controversial increases in probate fees will not go ahead as planned. Fees will now remain at a flat rate, after proposals for a new tiered approach met with strong opposition on the grounds they amounted to a ‘stealth tax’ on bereaved families.

Following a period of consultation, plans to charge higher probate fees were set out in the Non-Contentious Probate (Fees) Order in November 2018. This proposed abandoning the existing fixed fee of £155 for grant applications made by solicitors and a charge of…

Broadly, phishing is the fraudulent attempt to obtain sensitive information such as usernames, passwords and credit card details by disguising oneself as a trustworthy source in an electronic communication. This is generally carried out by email spoofing or instant messaging, and it often directs users to enter personal information at a fake website which matches the look and feel of the legitimate site.

Most people are aware of the increase in volume and sophistication of phishing campaigns in recent years, but worryingly, there has also been a notable rise…

Following a series of defeats, HMRC have won a First Tier Tribunal (FTT) case concerning the employment status of three BBC presenters who used personal service companies (PSCs).

The case concerned the working arrangements for presenters Joanna Gosling, David Eades and Tim Willcox. Unusually, the judges disagreed about the IR35 status of the presenters, although they were unanimous that the ‘imbalance of bargaining power’ between the presenters and the BBC was a significant factor in the case, saying "The BBC were in a unique position and used it to…

HMRC have published a Brexit edition of their Agent Update publication, which contains some useful information on changes to various procedures after Brexit.

In particular, articles are included on the following topics:

Grants for businesses completing customs declarations: £16m in new government funding is now available to help businesses train staff in making customs declarations, and to help businesses who support others who trade goods to invest in IT. This will ensure that trade with the EU continues as smoothly as possible after Brexit on 31 October.

Customs agents currently help…

Significant changes to the tax rules governing zero emissions company cars will take effect from 6 April 2020, potentially making an electric car a more attractive option.

The tax rules for calculating the taxable benefit arising on a car are not changing – this will still be calculated (broadly) using the car’s full manufacturer’s published UK list price multiplied by the ‘appropriate percentage’, which can be found by reference to the car’s CO2 emissions level. This calculation gives the taxable value of the…