HMRC targets restaurants
HM Revenue & Customs (HMRC) is currently investigating 531 restaurant businesses for underpayment of tax as part of its plan to undertake "intensive bursts of compliance activity in specific high-risk trade sectors and locations across the UK". HMRC said there was no estimate of how much total tax was under consideration. However, for the 45 cases where figures have been processed, the amount under consideration was £634,000 - an average of around £14,000. Some 22 cases are currently being considered for criminal prosecution or Civil Investigation of Fraud procedures.

Bernie Ecclestone pays £27m bank charges
It has emerged that Formula One boss Bernie Ecclestone paid a German banker £27m to protect himself from a potentially "extremely expensive" UK tax investigation. Ecclestone was called as a witness to the German trial of Gerhard Gribkowsky, the banker who denies a number of fraud and tax-evasion charges relating to the sale of Formula One in 2005.
Ecclestone claims the payment was to stop Gribkowsky passing false claims to the UK taxman - as opposed to a bribe connected with the F1 deal. "I was under the impression that he might have given some information to the Revenue in England, which I did not know much about," Ecclestone claimed. "If he had done and the Revenue had investigated and been successful, it would have been extremely expensive."

Rank success
The Rank Group won its long-running dispute over the VAT treatment of gambling receipts. The European Court of Justice found that HMRC breached the rule of fiscal neutrality by treating similar gaming machines in different ways for VAT purposes. Claims covering the period 2003 to 2005 have been paid, but this judgment will pave the way for hundreds of businesses to receive refunds from as far back as the 1970s.

Film industry breaks continue
The tax breaks given to the British film industry are to be extended until 2015. The relief is aimed at the expenses incurred in film production. Films must be certified as British through a cultural test and must incur at least 25% of the total production expenditure in the UK. Relief can be claimed on a maximum of 80% of the budget.

Liechtenstein amnesty problems
Potential users of the Liechtenstein Disclosure Facility will now need a certificate from a local financial intermediary under new changes to the initiative. Essentially, it will be necessary to provide proof that they have a "meaningful connection" to the country. HMRC has announced that from 1st December individuals will require "confirmation of relevance" before registering for the facility, which gives taxpayers the opportunity to regularise their tax affairs with lower penalties and immunity from prosecution.

Doctors and dentists in tax probe
Doctors and dentists risk facing criminal investigation if they do not come forward now to sort out any undeclared tax liabilities. HMRC will begin writing to doctors and dentists this week in the next stage of its Tax Health Plan, which was launched in 2008, offering attractive terms to put their tax affairs in order. The first wave of the initiative yielded around £10m, including £1m from a single doctor.

Guernsey tax hikes
Guernsey has raised taxes on property, petrol, alcohol and tobacco for the third year in a row. However, at the same time income tax allowances have been increased by 1.7%, or £150 per person.

HMRC discriminates against disabled taxpayer
A first-tier tax tribunal has ruled that HMRC was right to impose a £400 fine for late filing on Peter Graf von der Pahlen, a business owner who suffers from dyslexia, Asperger's syndrome, a walking disability and mental health problems. Changes to the way HMRC ran its service meant von der Pahlen was unable to submit his P35 employer returns forms in time. Accountancy Age said: "The case, held in June this year and published this month, is both fascinating and disturbing. It touches on many contentious elements around HMRC's service strategy: the taxman's increasingly aggressive stance; the lack of exemptions for people to file paper returns; and the closure of HMRC regional offices."

HMRC boosts offshore team
HMRC's Offshore Co-ordination Unit (OCU) has appointed 25 new investigators primarily to look at bank account data gathered through various amnesties and procured data disks. The new recruits are part of the 100 new roles announced by the chief secretary to the Treasury.

Fifty per cent tax rate inefficient
A new report from the Centre for Economics and Business Studies (CEBR) said the optimal rate of tax for generating income has decreased in the past year. It claimed that the most efficient rate is now below 40%. The CEBR put this down to greater flexibility in the jobs market and increases in VAT and National Insurance. When these increases are taken into account, the effective marginal rate of tax is currently 65%, it claimed, higher than the Institute for Fiscal Studies' estimate of 57%.

Overseas personalities reap HMRC a tidy profit
HMRC collected £56m in 2008/09 from the tax on endorsement income, appearance fees and revenue from overseas stars performing in the UK. This was down from £58m in 2007/08. HMRC calculates tax owed by sports and entertainment stars based on the number of events they compete in as a proportion of the total number of events worldwide. Therefore, if a sportsperson competes in two events in a year, one of which is in the UK, then they would pay tax on half of their worldwide endorsements.

EU challenges Swiss deal
The EU is threatening to sue the UK over its tax agreement with Switzerland. European Commission lawyers have said that the deal was in breach of EU laws, which are tougher on tax evasion than UK laws are. The chancellor, George Osborne, has been warned that he must renegotiate the deal or face a writ from the EU. The deal will protect the secrecy enjoyed by UK residents with accounts in Switzerland in return for a large percentage of the capital in their accounts and a withholding tax.

Tax shock for pensioners
People who retire early may be liable to pay a tax charge of up to 70%, following a case to be heard in the High Court. The court will rule on whether schemes that allow individuals to draw up to half their pension out before the age of 55 are in breach of regulations. The case involves a scheme in which members in two pension funds are encouraged to lend the money to one another.

The Autumn Statement
The Chancellor of the Exchequer made his autumn statement at the end of November. The key points were:

Pre-eminent objects tax
An estimated £75m of 'gifts' could be presented to the nation under a new tax relief scheme. The 'gift of pre-eminent objects' tax scheme will be introduced from the April 2012 tax year, providing relief for giving valuable gifts over to the UK. The scheme will run in parallel with the current 'acceptance in lieu' scheme, in which an estate can offer objects against inheritance tax liabilities. The new scheme is applicable across income tax, corporation tax and capital gains tax.

HMRC will be launching a campaign in early 2012 to target users of online marketplaces such as eBay and Etsy who fail to pay the appropriate tax. Ahead of this, they have raided the home of Gregory Allnut, where they found evidence that he had been using a VAT registration number to obtain zero-rated goods from suppliers within the EU and then selling them through another online company without declaring the tax.