Insurance companies have united to step up efforts to crack down on fraudsters seeking to manipulate the UK insurance market with bogus claims and duping innocent people into buying fake insurance policies.

In 2023 alone, 84,400 fraudulent claims worth £1.1 billion were detected by the Association of British Insurers (ABI), a 16% increase in the number of detected claims compared to the previous year. 

Crash for cash scams are becoming a significant issue. This sees fraudsters recklessly orchestrate accidents to put forward an insurance claim, putting innocent lives at risk. Fraudsters may also make claims for accidents that never happened.

The Insurance Fraud Bureau is currently investigating over 6,000 suspected fraudulent motor insurance claims, which could be linked to crash for cash scams. In total, this is estimated to be worth over £70 million in potential fraud.

The new voluntary charter is designed to identify loopholes in the insurance market, enhance collaboration and criminal justice outcomes, better understand the scale of the problem and improve victim support.

Pledges include:

• the National Crime Agency’s National Assessment Centre conducting a review into the role of professional enablers in the insurance sector – where someone provides false evidence to support a bogus insurance claim;
• identifying policies being exploited by ‘illegal insurance intermediaries’ – someone pretending to be a broker or selling completely fake insurance to customers;
• strengthening data security measures to stop insurance fraudsters using customer details to target people; and
• reviewing the tactics and websites being used by fraudsters to promote bogus insurance offers – this includes looking at the vulnerable victims’ notifications process, which has proven successful in the banking sector, to better identify and support victims of insurance fraud.

There are a little over three months remaining to file your self-assessment tax return online for 2023-24. The deadline is 31 January 2025. As this date approaches, an increasing number of individuals are reaching out to HMRC’s helpline for help. 

To help ease the demand, HMRC has shared the top five reasons people are calling the self-assessment helpline and is encouraging everyone to use the online resources for quicker access to information.

The 5 most common reasons for calling the helpline are:

1. I no longer need to complete a self-assessment tax return.
2. I need to register for self-assessment.
3. Can you tell me if I still have to complete a tax return?
4. What’s happening with my self-assessment registration?
5. What’s happening with my self-assessment repayment?

Taxpayers may need to complete a tax return, even if they pay taxes through PAYE, for example, if they:

• are self-employed and have earned gross income over £1,000;
• are self-employed and earned up to £1,000 and wish to pay Class 2 NICs voluntarily to protect their entitlement to State Pension and certain benefits;
• are a partner in a business partnership;
• had a total taxable income of more than £150,000;
• have received any untaxed income including pension income over £2,500;
• received income over £1,000 from trading or providing services online;
• have to pay the High Income Child Benefit charge;
• received interest from banks and building societies or investments (more than £10,000); or
• received rental or letting income from UK land and property.

Over 12 million taxpayers need to complete their self-assessment for the 2023-24 tax year and pay any taxes due by the 31 January 2025.

There are specific rules that restrict changing a company’s year-end date, also known as the "accounting reference date". Initially, this is based on the date of incorporation. Under certain conditions, it’s possible to adjust the accounting year-end, which may offer trading or tax advantages for some businesses.

You can generally change the year-end for the current financial year or the one immediately preceding it. Altering the year-end will also adjust the deadline for filing accounts, except during a new company’s first financial year.

You can shorten the year-end date an unlimited number of times, but you can only extend it once every five years, with a maximum extension of 18 months. Extensions may occur more frequently under specific circumstances, such as if the company is in administration.

To request a change to an accounting reference date, you can use the Companies House online service for a quicker process or submit a postal version of the Change of Accounting Reference Date (AA01) form. Changes cannot be made for periods where accounts are overdue.

While there is no definitive reason to choose one date over another, various factors should be considered. The most common year-end dates are typically 31 December (to align with the calendar year) or 31 March (to align with the tax year).

Additionally, the Companies House rules stipulate that the year-end cannot be changed for any period where the accounts are overdue .

There are specific customs requirements for commercial goods that you take with you to sell abroad. You must declare any goods intended for sale outside the UK, whether they are in your baggage or a private vehicle.

The regulations for commercial goods or samples carried by passengers in their accompanied baggage are known as Merchandise in Baggage (MIB). As of January 2024, the threshold for simplified declarations of MIB increased to £2,500 (increased from £1,500). If your goods fall below this threshold, you can make a simple online declaration within five days before your departure.

A full export declaration is necessary if the goods exceed £2,500 in value or if they are subject to excise duty or import/export restrictions.

For Northern Ireland, different rules apply. If you are taking commercial goods from Northern Ireland to Great Britain or the EU in your accompanied baggage, no declaration is required.

There are separate procedures for temporarily taking goods abroad (such as samples for a trade fair) or when using a courier or freight forwarder.

The VAT treatment of motor expenses is an important concern for any business that incurs VAT on these costs. Below, we highlight key points to consider regarding the recovery of input tax (VAT) when leasing vehicles.

We have covered below some important points to be aware of concerning the recovery of input tax (VAT) when leasing vehicles.

• Leasing company recovering VAT on purchase of cars. A leasing company can usually recover the VAT incurred as long as the cars are leased at a commercial rate.
• Businesses leasing a car and recovering the VAT. If a business leases a ‘qualifying car’ for business purposes they cannot, in most cases, recover 50% of the VAT charged. The 50% block covers the private use of the car. The business can reclaim the remaining 50% of the VAT charged, subject to the normal rules.
• Cars leased primarily for taxi or driving instruction. A business can reclaim all of the VAT charged on the lease if the car is a qualifying car and the business intends to use it primarily for:
  • hire with a driver for carrying passengers; or
  • providing driving instruction.
• 50% block applying to self-drive hire (daily rental) as well as leasing. This restriction applies if the car is hired simply to replace an off the road ordinary company car.