Watt Busfield Tax Investigations LLP

20/05/2026

has described the £5m gift from an overseas businessman as a "reward", so is it taxable? There are a number of ways that could tax this, but it is probably not taxable, based on a number of assumptions. However, some taxpayers have made errors in their tax affairs or not taken advice and will need to correct their tax return or make a disclosure.

Christopher Harborne gave Nigel Farage £5m. UK tax specialists explain why the gift is probably not taxable, and when HMRC could still challenge it.

03/03/2026

In a recent tax avoidance case the judge accepted that the had neither actual nor blind-eye knowledge that their returns were inaccurate. They argued that the test for a deliberate inaccuracy is subjective - a blind-eye knowledge “demands a specific and firmly grounded suspicion coupled with a deliberate decision not to investigate because of concern about what would be discovered”. The taxpayer had relied on professional advice throughout, referred to ’s opinion and their had been prepared by .

The First-tier Tribunal has allowed an appeal by Anthony and Ross Outram following an order by the Upper Tribunal ([2024] UKUT 00203 (TCC)) to set aside the original decision of the First-tier Tribunal ([2021] UKFTT 126 (TC)) dismissing their appeals. The Upper Tribunal remitted the appeal to the Fi...

16/11/2025

I was honoured to be asked to write a profile for 's first Alumni Network news digest. I joined EY's graduate rotation scheme after a short stint at a Lloyd's of London syndicate, and it was a supportive space to pass my chartered tax exams and grow professionally. I learnt from some of the best technical and business brains. This knowledge, combined with the amazing network, allowed me to start my own investigation business. EY has a diverse, global community and I am looking forward to seeing what my fellow alumni are up to in the new look Portal.

www.alumni.ey.com

10/10/2025

has confirmed a partnership with , the firm known for its work with intelligence + agencies, to improve HMRC's analytical capabilities. Palantir already has a major data management contract. The Labour government has set targets of raising an additional £5bn a year through . via

All powerful data analysis tool Connect raises additional £4.6bn in single year as thousands of HMRC staff use the big data network to root out non-compliant taxpayers

29/09/2025

A total of 109 businesses from across the are on 's public deliberate defaulters list, owing £201m. Including a company, developers, caterers, , , a , , delivery, , , and . In each case, they did not handle the disclosure correctly so their names are published on HMRC's website.

A Blackburn jeweller is one of this month’s top deliberate tax defaulters, owing HMRC nearly £8m in corporation tax and VAT, while former Hive 360 payroll agents face a £167m unpaid bill

29/09/2025

Is ’s Newest ? This week the announced that their new AI tool – the Risk Assessment Accelerator – has helped them recoup more than £480 million in just 12 months by cross-referencing information across different accounts to look for anything suspicious. It also analyses new policies to work out how scammers might be able to exploit them, before being rolled out. TechRound

At this point, it looks like AI has taken over almost all areas of our lives. We can use AI...

24/09/2025

Collingwood caught out in £196k dispute. The former for went to Tribunal to appeal 4 closure notices totalling £196k issued by in 2019 related to 2011 to 2016. The dispute centred around the use of a personal service company, to handle sponsorship earnings. https://www.accountancydaily.co/cricketer-collingwood-caught-out-ps196k-tax-dispute via

Former England cricketer loses appeal over a tax bill related to payments for historic sponsorship contracts through personal services company

24/09/2025

to take directly from bank accounts where the taxpayer has over £5,000 but is refusing to pay their debt. The Direct Recovery of Debts ( ) policy, which was put on hold during the , has been restarted in a "test and learn" phase.

The policy, which was paused during the Covid-19 pandemic, has been restarted in a "test and learn" phase, HMRC said

23/09/2025

Tour operator jailed for 2 years in £100k bounce back loan . A of a has been jailed after ignoring ‘crystal clear’ rules and securing 2 maximum value £50,000 loans within a fortnight. https://www.accountancydaily.co/tour-operator-jailed-ps100k-loan-fraud via

A director of a Blackburn travel company has been jailed after ignoring ‘crystal clear’ rules and securing two maximum value £50,000 bounce back loans within a fortnight

18/09/2025

's rules could catch out thousands of people. HMRC is cracking down on so-called who receive freebies or payments for their posts about restaurants, clothes, hotels, holidays, gadgets etc.

HMRC rules could end in a financial penalty, warns one specialist