General

Businesses will get a ‘measure of relief’ after interest rates were cut by the Bank of England, says the British Chambers of Commerce (BCC). The Bank cut the base rate from 4.75% to 4.5%, the lowest level since June 2023.…

An increasingly complex tax system is costing UK businesses an estimated £15.4 billion a year in compliance, according to a report from the National Audit Office (NAO). HMRC’s cost of collecting tax has risen by £563 million over the past…

People plugging gaps in their National Insurance contributions (NICs) have added £35 million to their State Pensions since last April, according to figures from HMRC. More than 37,000 online payments have been made through the online service, equating to 68,673…

The government has stopped controversial plans to collect information about the exact hours worked by every employee in PAYE returns. The data collection on employee hours was meant to start from April 2026, but the plan has been scrapped as…

The government has introduced a package of support that it says will help the alcohol sector to grow. From 1 February, draught relief has increased to knock 1p off duty on draught products whilst small producer relief – a measure…

With less than a month to go 5.4 million taxpayers still need to complete and pay their self assessment and avoid penalties, HMRC warns. Anyone required to file a tax return for the 2023/24 tax year who misses the 31…

The UK government has launched a new Industrial Strategy Advisory Council which brings together business leaders from across the UK to offer advice. The government says the Industrial Strategy will help maintain a pro-business environment to capture a greater share…

The UK economy shrank for the second month in a row in October, according to the Office for National Statistics (ONS). Official figures showed a 0.1% drop in gross domestic product (GDP) for October. The economy had been expected to…