This week on The Tax Factor, Heather Self and Roger Holman ask whether Angela Rayner should stop auditioning for Chancellor after her tax policy ideas were leaked and heavily critiqued.

Meanwhile, HMRC is getting heat from all directions: the National Audit Office questions its handling of wealthy taxpayers, and the Public Accounts Committee says the tax system is spiralling into complexity, public trust is fading, and confidence in HMRC’s IT overhaul is shaky at best.

Scottish Power had a fine reduced to £1 but paid £28 million in compensation. The big question: can that be claimed as tax deductible? HMRC and Scottish Power don’t see eye to eye.

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This week on The Tax Factor, Rehana Earle and Neil Insull discuss the closure of the historic Beales department store after 144 years, blamed on rising taxes and a worsening business climate. With the CIPD warning of a prolonged drop in employer confidence, what does the future hold for the UK labour market?

Next, they examine a surprising tribunal victory, where a taxpayer successfully argued that their luxury property, complete with marble swimming pool and expansive wine cellar was their main home, defeating HMRC. Finally, could President Trump’s proposed 100% tariffs on TV and film production deal a major blow to Britain’s thriving creative industries?

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In this episode we look at the topic of female entrepreneurs: why do women make great entrepreneurs, what differentiates them from male founders and what specific support do they typically need? Which sectors do they gravitate toward and why do they often have challenges securing funding?

Joining Declan to debate all of this are Sarah Austin, Founder & Managing Director of the Lloyds British Business Excellence Awards, and Sam Smith, Co-Founder of Super Scalers.

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This week, we celebrate the retirement of Martin Reynard, pensions expert and longstanding Blick Rothenberg veteran, after nearly 40 years in the profession, including over three decades with the firm.

Martin reflects on the evolution of pensions and why, despite decades of change, they remain one of the most powerful and essential tools in financial planning today. We look at why pensions still matter from tax relief and employer contributions to flexibility and intergenerational planning and explore the biggest shifts over Martin’s career: the highs of pension freedoms and growing personal control, and the lows of mis-selling scandals and creeping complexity.

It’s a thoughtful and insightful look at pensions through the eyes of someone who’s seen it all.

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As the new financial year begins, John and Ele explore the real impact of April’s tax changes from rising employer NICs and the scrapping of EV tax breaks to the end of holiday let perks. They discuss the Government’s sweeping new tax reform package, including 39 proposals to simplify the system, reduce compliance costs, and even shrink HMRC’s London footprint.

Also, this week, milkshakes may soon face sugar tax, Liverpool sidesteps legislation to bring in a tourist levy, and Wetherspoons fails to convince a tribunal that cider isn’t booze and a £400k R&D clawback case puts HMRC’s stricter claims regime in the spotlight.

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This week on The Tax Factor, Heather and Sarah (celebrate!?) 20 years of HMRC with a look at its latest performance woes, from phone line chaos and missing repayments to the absurdity of pursuing a taxpayer for £600.
Also, this week, Holly Willoughby’s agency gets a stern reminder that HMRC doesn’t do celebrity favours, a fake Greggs manager pockets pandemic cash, and a warning about getting caught in VAT carousel fraud. Plus: £150m in tax relief for Jurassic World and Ofgem’s bright idea that richer people should pay more for electricity. What next - tea bags? Loo roll?

Audio to download:

https://assethub.azets.com/transfer/9866882ddd7ebbd54cb5641bd3a6de08a00caaf357af0b13135469cc883aac68

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This week on The Tax Factor, Heather Self and Rehana Earle look at HMRC scaling back phonelines and webchat services to tackle fraud.They discuss a recent SDLT case where timing could cost a taxpayer their refund, the tribunal sided with the taxpayer, but the battle may not be over yet.

Making Tax Digital is expanding to the self-employed and landlords, but a new survey reveals worrying gaps in public awareness, is HMRC doing enough to get the message out? And arise Sir Jeremy Hunt!

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In this week's episode of The Tax Factor, Roger Holman and Neil Insull look at the quiet storm that is April's new tax landscape - changes may have been light in the Spring Statement, but the devil, as ever, is in the (Autumn Budget) detail.

In Guernsey, the government has done the unthinkable: opened a tax drop-in centre where people can actually talk to someone. A bold move that feels very different from HMRC’s current approach.

There is the curious case of Timothy Bunting v HMRC, where an initially successful taxpayer ended up losing not only the argument, but also his cash and his relief and finally a timely nudge: It’s a good time to review your ISA’s.

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