Smith & Williamson has, for many years, combined an independent firm of chartered accountants with an investment management and private banking house.

The new personal insolvency regime went live on 9 September 2013, and put into action some important and long overdue changes to our bankruptcy laws. After its first two months in operation, is it a success?

Are you a UK non-resident and do you own a furnished holiday property in the UK which you let out? If so, then please read on.

Finance Act 2013 brought in two significant changes as far as non-UK domiciled individuals and inheritance tax (IHT) are concerned.

There weren’t many surprises in the March Budget, but the further reduction to the main rate of corporation tax was one of them.

Identifying capital allowances can add significantly to cashflow benefits for profitable businesses. Draft legislation has been issued announcing changes to the process for claiming capital allowances on fixtures that, if implemented, will significantly increase compliance pressure on property transactions from April 2012.

HMRC has recently published proposed new plans to facilitate the accelerated payment of tax in respect of tax avoidance schemes.

Where the value of quoted shares is to be used to benefit a charity there are two routes for the individual donor to attract tax relief.

Identifying capital allowances can add significantly to cash flow benefits for profitable businesses. Legislation that was introduced in 2012 changed the process for claiming capital allowances on fixtures.

Investigating the electronic records of an insolvent company can bring a number of challenges, especially when the number of documents is significant.

Arguably the main area of contention relates to the new proposals in the SORP on impairment.

The Green Deal and the related Energy Company Obligation have not yet delivered anywhere near the activity which the Government envisaged.

Where a business is sold that includes ‘trade- related property’, issues have often arisen on the allocation of proceeds amongst the assets acquired.

The European Commission has published a report into tax and the digital economy. There are a number of interesting conclusions included in the report.

In April 2013 we were introduced to the term 'enveloped dwelling' to define a residential property owned by a company (or other non-natural person).

It was announced in the last Budget that the ATED threshold of properties valued at more than £2m is to be lowered over the next few years.

In practice, it was often difficult for taxpayers and HMRC to determine the extent to which a previous owner had claimed capital allowance relief on qualifying items in buildings.

The Office of Tax Simplification has been consulting on improvements to the taxation and reporting for both approved and non-approved share schemes.

Charity and other non-profit making organisations that operate patron or supporter schemes will be interested in the recent VAT decision of the First-Tier Tribunal in The Serpentine Trust Ltd.

Welcome to Tax update, which provides a round-up and explanation of the latest tax issues.