News

Read more about TaxWatch’s work, including reports, analysis and comment pieces.

Gold plating tax reliefs for the silver screen

What are the implications of the additional fiscal support given to the creative industries in the Spring Budget, and do the changes provide value for money?

Latest Government consultation grapples with how to regulate tax advisers

TaxWatch introduces the latest Government consultation into regulating tax advice market.

We are hiring!

We’re recruiting a Research Analyst to join the small TaxWatch team.

TaxWatch responds to the Spring Budget 2024

The TaxWatch team focuses its thoughts on a few areas of the Budget statement it found particularly interesting, from a tax compliance and administration standpoint.

Would scrapping furnished holiday let tax benefits really raise £300m?

Abolishing preferential tax rules for furnished holiday lets owners will only raise the speculated revenue if the compliance rules are carefully thought out.

Fit for the future: Does HMRC have the right staff skills and technology?

HMRC’s effectiveness is being held back by legacy IT systems, staff and pay reductions and a lack of effective workforce planning.

Mind the gap: How to collect the right tax?

There are fundamental issues around the subject of compliance for HMRC, which needs, among other things, a proper workforce plan with trained and motivated staff able to deal with all aspects of compliance.

Seeing the wood from the trees: Putting HMRC wealthy compliance statistics in context

A report about trends in case numbers opened by a niche HMRC team requires a bit of context to judge whether the question it poses is the correct one.

Hanging on the telephone: The front line of HMRC’s customer service?

HMRC’s increasingly poor telephone service is impacting its ability to collect the right amount of tax and damaging the wider economy.

Taxing online selling: What’s really changing?

Misunderstandings and confusing media coverage last week have created uncertainty about how transactions made via online platforms such as Vinted, Ebay and Airbnb should be taxed.

TaxWatch launches regulatory complaint against Mr Douglas Barrowman

TaxWatch has lodged a formal complaint to the Institute of Chartered Accountants of Scotland in respect of its member, Douglas Barrowman.

How much tax did multinational companies underpay in the UK last year?

A recent story about multinational companies underpaying billions of pounds of UK tax caught our attention, but it turns out the figures aren’t quite what they seem.