HMRC have updated their income tax payer data HMRC regularly updates data on income tax payers and last month it produced a revised set of numbers. These give an interesting insight into the drivers behind tax policy, and in particular, the emphasis on reducing tax avoidance.     HMRC estimates there will be 29.7 million income […]

The official rate of inflation fell below zero in April: prices are now dropping year on year. The April reading for the Consumer Prices Index (CPI) was an annual rate of -0.1%, which is the lowest level since the index was officially launched in 1990. On an unofficial ‘back-tested’ estimated you have to go back […]

Pension automatic enrolment is getting closer to home. The roll out of automatic enrolment of employees into pension schemes started back in October 2012 with the largest employers. The logic was that these big organisations would have the necessary resources to start the process quickly and efficiently. Since those early days, the size of employers […]

The latest Quarterly Inflation Report from the Bank of England suggests there will no base rate rise this year. “Free beer tomorrow” is a sign that used to be spotted in some pubs before they were closed down or became eateries rather than drinking establishments. Of course, tomorrow was always one day away, so free […]

Last month’s unexpected election result has been followed by the more anticipated announcement of a second 2015 Budget. Quite what it will be about is unclear for now – the Treasury’s press release gave little more than the date. In terms of what was in the Conservative manifesto on tax, there are two measures that […]