The government has commissioned an independent review of the Loan Charge.

The Exchequer Secretary to the Treasury made a Written Ministerial Statement announcing that Ray McCann, a former President of the Chartered Institute of Taxation, would lead the review.

The review will examine the barriers preventing those who are subject to the Loan Charge but have not already settled and paid their tax liabilities in full from reaching resolution with HMRC. It will recommend ways in which they can be encouraged to settle with HMRC.

The reviewer will report and present their recommendations to the Exchequer Secretary to the Treasury by summer 2025.

However, the announcement drew criticism from campaigners.

Steve Packham, from the Loan Charge Action Group, said:

‘What the government has announced today is not a review at all, as it actually astonishingly excludes reviewing the Loan Charge. It is a complete sham and a betrayal of the promise made by Rachel Reeves last year.

‘The terms of reference start by justifying the Loan Charge and the whole approach taken and instead of being any review of the issue and scandal, is just about how people can be persuaded to give in and pay the unfair and disputed demands. This will not only not get to the truth, it will not resolve the matter and cases will unfortunately drag on and on.’

Internet link: GOV.UK Loan Charge Action Group

HMRC could save an estimated 1.7 million hours of call handlers’ time every year if it implemented an automated status tracking system, according to two of the leading bodies for tax advisers and chartered accountants.

A joint study by the Chartered Institute of Taxation (CIOT) and ICAEW tracked attempts to contact HMRC across phonelines and webchats for six weeks. It found that more than one-third of contact attempts were made to chase progress on existing enquiries, rather than to make a new enquiry.

The bodies say that, while improving customer service performance remained crucial, a significant reduction in the need for agents and taxpayers to contact HMRC in the first place was vital.

Only 33% of contact attempts to HMRC resulted in the query being fully resolved, the study found, with the average wait time across phone and webchat standing at 19 minutes.

The introduction of an automated tracking system to eliminate progress chasing calls could save more than 1.7 million hours each year, the equivalent of 1,000 full-time employees or approximately £36 million, CIOT and ICAEW said.

Additionally, an automated tracking system would reduce the number of staff needed to answer such calls, who could be redeployed elsewhere.

Ellen Milner, CIOT’s Director of Public Policy, said:

‘The report’s recommendations are practical solutions which can deliver significant improvements for agents and taxpayers.

‘Additionally, from an HMRC perspective, resolving issues with progress chasing alone has the potential to save them over £36 million a year in staff costs. This seems a good place to start for releasing funds for much needed investment in training and digitalisation.’

Internet link: CIOT

The Chancellor will deliver her Spring Statement to the House of Commons on Wednesday 26 March 2025.

Rachel Reeves confirmed the date to the House of Commons, telling MPs that the Office for Budget Responsibility (OBR) has been commissioned for an Economic and Fiscal Forecast to be published on the same day.

This is in line with the Budget Responsibility and National Audit Act 2011 which requires the OBR to produce two forecasts each financial year. This will be accompanied by a statement to parliament from the Chancellor.

A government statement said:

‘The Chancellor remains committed to one major fiscal event a year to give families and businesses stability and certainty on upcoming tax and spending changes and, in turn, to support the government’s growth mission.’

Internet link: GOV.UK

More than 40,000 taxpayers completed their self assessment returns over the Christmas break, according to figures from HMRC.

On Christmas Day 4,400 people filed their tax return online while almost 12,000 submitted their tax return on Boxing Day.

Christmas Eve was the busiest day for returns over the festive period with 23,731 filing their returns.

Then numbers were released by the tax authority as it continues to encourage taxpayers to prepare and file their tax return ahead of the deadline on 31 January 2025.

Myrtle Lloyd, HMRC’s Director General for Customer Services, said:

‘People who need to file a self assessment return and already have can enjoy the rest of the festive period knowing they’ve got it wrapped up for another year … for those who haven’t started yet, our online service is available 365 days a year so there’s still a chance to get it done. Go to GOV.UK and search ‘self assessment’ to access the online help and start today.’

Internet link: HMRC press release

Cash use in the shops rose for a second year in a row in 2023 after a decade of falls, according to the British Retail Consortium (BRC).

Notes and coins were used in a fifth of transactions last year as shoppers found cash helped them to budget better, said the BRC.

Overall, customers visited shops more frequently but made smaller purchases. The total number of transactions rose from 19.6 billion to 21.0 billion while the average amount spent per transaction fell from £22.43 to £22.03.

Meanwhile, card fees paid by retailers continued to grow. The total amount paid by retailers to banks and card schemes rose by over 25% in 2023. This brought the total card fees paid to £1.64 billion.

Chris Owen, Payments Policy Advisor, British Retail Consortium said:

‘Persistent inflation and the cost-of-living crisis continued to affect households across the country and many consumers used cash to budget more effectively.

‘However, the dominance of card payments continues apace, accounting for over 85% of spending. Card fees continue to rise at a substantial rate and the Payment Systems Regulator (PSR) must act upon the harms it has identified in its current market reviews. It must move swiftly to reform the market and implement remedies including price caps on fees and price rebalancing measures.’

Internet link: BRC