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Safeguarding Client Money
The Solicitors Regulation Authority (SRA) had been planning to abolish the requirement for legal practices to submit an annual independent accountants’ report detailing how they have managed client money during the year. Following consultation and the receipt of many concerns from within the profession (and their clients!) the SRA have now announced that the requirement…
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VAT Repayments Handicap Golf Clubs
And so the saga goes on! Despite the European Court having ruled back in December 2013 that VAT should not be levied on green fees charged by not for profit members’ clubs, here we are, almost 12 months later, not much further forward. The reason is that HMRC is having a serious case of the…
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Did you know that until recently, snowballs were standard rated for VAT purposes? It’s true, honestly.
Of course the snowballs in question are not the sort that are made out of snow, and if current weather predictions are correct, you will be able to throw until your arms get tired this winter. They are the items made from marshmallow, covered in chocolate and sprinkled with coconut. Given that a tax tribunal…
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HMRC error affects 5 million taxpayers (again)
In a leaked email, HMRC has admitted that over 5 million taxpayers may have had their liabilities calculated incorrectly. Despite subsequent adjustments and assessments, and in many cases refunds issued, they may still have paid the wrong amount. As an interim measure HMRC have stopped sending tax repayments until the crisis is resolved. Some months…
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Have you had a letter from HMRC? Are you subject to the High Income Child Benefit Charge (HICBC) – or perhaps not?
HMRC have recently issued an estimated 30,000 letters to higher rate taxpayers it suspects of not having repaid their Child Benefit. The letters appear to have been written to those individuals who said they had received child benefit and earned over £50,000 in 2012/13, but who did not themselves actually pay the high income child…
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Micro Businesses Booming
A recent report by insurance group RSA has found that the number of micro businesses in the UK has grown by 43% since 2000. Micro firms are defined as businesses employing less than ten employees. The research found: 1.4 million new micro firms have launched since 2000 micro firms are the only size category to have…
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Trio of Awards for Burgis & Bullock
We are delighted to announce that we are currently celebrating triple award success for our tax and corporate finance teams. The firm was recently voted “West Midlands Corporate Finance Team of the Year” at the Acquisition International Finance Awards 2014. Now, the firm’s role advising the shareholders of Nuneaton based Ingleby Care Limited on the…
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£15.1billion owed to HMRC due to ineffective debt management
A vast amount of money is owed to Government, and H M Revenue & Customs (HMRC) in particular, due the lack of a strategic cross government approach to the managing of that debt and getting more money paid to the Exchequer. So say the Public Accounts Committee. HMRC was owed £15.1 billion of the £22…
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Ability to recover VAT on costs incurred by companies restructuring and refinancing dealt a blow by taxpayer loss at Court of Appeal
The decision of the Court of Appeal in Airtours Holidays Transport Limited (formerly MyTravel) (“Airtours”) regarding VAT recoverability on costs relating to restructuring and refinancing has just been released. This case has important implications for businesses that are currently being challenged in this area in both the corporate and private equity M&A sphere. Key points…
Last week, our trainees took part in an internal audit training session designed to strengthen their technical knowledge and support their professional development. While gaining practical skills was the key objective, we also wanted to make the learning experience engaging and enjoyable, so we incorporated some games. At Burgis & …
October 14, 2026
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