February 7, 2010Accountants call on chancellor to scrap Spring budget

Chancellor Alistair Darling is set to announce the date for this year’s budget soon, with a date expected to be set in March.

The move would be pointless because a general election would come before any of the changes proposed were carried out.

Both Government and opposition should recognise that neither business nor the general public will welcome the uncertainty and distractions created by two budgets when one budget is more than enough.

Business would prefer to focus upon strengthening its emergence from the credit quake after anaemic growth in the final quarter of 2009, whilst the general public will not welcome a further bout of ‘Punch and Judy’ posturing by the political parties focussed entirely on the forthcoming general election battle and not at all on the genuine fiscal imperatives.

There are no tax technical reasons why the chancellor needs to introduce anything other than an abbreviated finance bill to confirm the tax allowances and rates which he has already announced in his December 2009 pre-budget report.

Alistair Darling could accompany the finance bill by a ministerial statement on the same day announcing measures to close artificial tax planning schemes and loopholes and introduce already foreshadowed uncontroversial tax reliefs; the legislation for which can easily be incorporated in the inevitable June 2010 budget after the general election irrespective of the outcome.

Story from:
Birmingham Post

February 5, 2010Warning over tax return deadline e-mail 'phishing' scam

The scam e-mails are being linked to the timing of the tax return deadline
Tens of thousands of fraudulent e-mails have been sent out officials say.
Recipients are told they are due a tax refund and asked to fill in an online form with bank or credit card details.
Victims have their accounts emptied or card limits used, and risk having the details sold to other criminal gangs.
Revenue & Customs (HMRC) has warned taxpayers not to respond to the "phishing" e-mails, as it informs customers of a refund by post only.

Massive upsurge

An HMRC spokesman said: "We never use e-mails, telephone calls or external companies in these circumstances. We strongly urge anyone receiving such an e-mail to send it to us for investigation before deleting it."
The Revenue said at least 20,000 fake e-mails had been sent out in the past week alone.

HMRC is expecting a massive upsurge in such correspondence following the 31 January deadline when many people will be waiting to hear about genuine tax refunds.
Investigations by HMRC alongside law enforcement agencies have shut down scammers in the UK and countries such as Austria, Mexico, South Korea, the US, Thailand and Japan in the last year.
Story from:
BBC