WIREDGOV

New figures show that HMRC secured a record £23.9bn in additional tax revenue over the last year as a result of increased activity to make sure people pay the taxes they owe.  The additional tax is up £3.2bn on the previous year and nearly £1bn above the target set at Autumn Statement 2013.

More than £8bn has been secured from large business, over £1bn from criminals and £2.7bn from tackling avoidance schemes in the courts.  HMRC’s compliance activity has resulted in a number of tribunal wins, and also seen corporation tax & stamp duty land tax loopholes closed, protecting the Exchequer from tax going unpaid.

• HMRC secures record breaking £23.9bn tax revenue  and publishes ‘HMRC fast facts: Record compliance revenues for the UK’
• Tribunal tears up Next’s tax relief claim
• Tax avoiders to be told ‘pay now’ as government demands tax owed upfront
• PCS:  Research by tax expert Richard Murphy shows the UK exchequer is likely to lose up to £47bn this year
• HMRC 'bullying' letters ask why taxpayers pay less than ...
• FDA:  One needs sufficient ‘gamekeepers’ to minimise ‘poaching’ (4th item)
• NAO:  Taxing times for HMRC as it struggles to collect all revenues due (5th item)
• New anti-tax abuse rule will allow 99% of tax avoidance to continue, says the TUC
• High tax rates have led to shadow economy worth over £150bn, new research shows
• Tax avoidance scheme could double brewer’s bill
• Tribunal ruling halts charity tax relief abuse
• HMRC defeats NT Advisors again at a tax tribunal
• Treasury Committee publishes report on 2014 Budget
• Chancellor attends G5 finance ministers meeting and agrees date for automatic exchange agreements
• Finance Bill 2014 brings in new tax changes
• HMRC campaign targets offshore account holders in fresh clamp-down on tax evasion
• Second-hand car dealer tax scheme scrapped
• NT Advisors loses £100m offshore tax avoidance bid
• Bristol & West tax avoidance plan loses again
• Charity Commission not fit for purpose
• Report published on HMRC tax collection: Annual Report & Accounts 2012-13
• Sharing data to fight tax evasion
• Continuing weakness of HMRC in its efforts to deal with tax avoidance
• HMRC wins employment income avoidance case
• Tackling Tax Avoidance: Commission tightens key EU corporate tax rules
• Cayman Islands signs tax information exchange agreement
• Chief Secretary announces government action on tax avoidance and evasion
• G20: World leaders back international action against tax avoidance and evasion
• HMRC wins battle against SDLT avoidance
• Treasury should undertake review to ensure multinationals pay their fair share
• TUC welcomes OECD clampdown on corporate tax dodgers
• Tax workers' union backs ground-breaking transparency campaign  
• HMRC statement in response to Public Accounts Committee report
• Politicians should avoid the moral debate on tax and fix the rules
• Closure of tax offices will cost more than it will save
• Independent study on general anti-avoidance rule published
• What is the Tax Gap?
• Big companies pay a lower tax rate on their profits than people pay on their pasties
• Union questions Government stance on tax avoidance
• Revenue staff strike over cuts that undermine tax avoidance clampdown
• Top tips for celebrity tax avoidance - TUC gossip mag urges Chancellor to act
• New rules use government buying power against tax avoidance
• ARC: PAC needs to recognise the need for more HMRC resource and proper reward for staff
• MPs publish report on Google's tax avoidance
• Taxation of the Digital Economy: High-level Expert Group presents final report

First, a report published by the Law Commission recommends reforms to ensure that the criminal justice system is able to make a stronger & more coherent response to hate crime.   For policing purposes, a crime is recorded as a hate crime if the victim or anyone else believes it to have been motivated by hostility based on any one or more of 5 main characteristics – disability, gender identity, race, religion and sexual orientation. The criminal offences available do not cover all 5 characteristics.

Secondly, new data from NatCen Social Research’s British Social Attitudes survey shows that 30% of Brits describe themselves as either “very” or “a little” prejudiced against people of other races.  This figure marks a return to previous levels seen before an all-time low in 2001 of 25%, suggesting little headway in tackling racial prejudice over the last 10 years.  Just over 9 in 10 of those who admit to some level of racial prejudice would also like to see a reduction in the current level of immigration, in comparison to around 7 in 10 who say that they’re not prejudiced at all.

• Hate crime: should the current offences be extended?
• NATCEN: Brits just as racially prejudiced as 30 years ago
• International Day Against Homophobia & Transphobia
• TUC urges unions & disability organisations to campaign together against attacks on disabled people
• Baroness Warsi hears communities’ views on integration
• Wales leading the way to tackle hate crime says Communities Minister
• Hate crime: Report finds significant progress in reducing hate crime
• EHRC's new programme of work focuses on protecting people most at risk
• Scots urged to speak up against hate crime
• Parliament calls for EU roadmap to protect fundamental rights of LGBTI people
• Welsh tradition of welcoming refugees must continue
• International Holocaust Remembrance Day:  EC calls on Member States to criminalise denial of crimes against humanity
• Equality Annual Report outlines progress for a more diverse Wales
• Roma discrimination: end illegal expulsions & ethnic profiling, MEPs say
• Public authorities show progress in tackling disability-related harassment but must do more
• Racist incidents fall by 14% in Scotland
• Launch of Criminal Justice Board to tackle hate crime in Wales - Communities Minister launches Hate Crime Awareness Week
• Communities Minister outlines commitment to tackling hate crime
• New fund open to make Wales a fairer society
• Government reforms risk increasing homophobia at work, warns TUC
• Reports of disability hate crime treble in Blackpool
• A joint review of disability hate crime: living in a different world
• ‘Challenge it, report it, stop it’ – a plan to tackle hate crime
• College tackles hate crime
• No tolerance of hate crimes: statistics show fall in offences
• ESRC:  New policies recognise needs of vulnerable sexual communities
• EHRC:  Agencies should do more to tackle disability related harassment
• Andrew Stunell: Tackling inequalities for Gypsy & Traveller communities
• Trans people are facing increasing violence says TUC
• Detailed analysis of religious hate crime
• Equality is vital for policing
• Sectarian & offensive behaviour
• ScotGov:  Action to tackle hate crime & sectarianism
• Race Council Cymru
• Civil Service Diversity & Equality team wins Disability Confident Award

A £30m Innovation Fund, developed by the Department for Work and Pensions, supports programmes that re-engage disadvantaged young people aged 16 to 24 in education or training, to improve their employability and reduce their longer-term dependency on benefits.  The funding is provided through social impact bonds (SIBs).

SIBs are a payment by results system where private investors fund innovative projects, often through charities and social enterprises, to prevent young people from becoming NEET (not in education, employment or training).  The government then only pays out to the investors if the projects are successful.

• Social impact bonds help young people in East London
• Big Lottery Fund appoints contractor to support social investment programme (3rd item)
• Investing in social enterprise: government publishes policy roadmap
• Big Lottery outcomes fund awards its first development grant
• Lottery announces joined-up support with Cabinet Office for social investment market
• Centre for Social Impact Bonds: new tools launched
• New boost to help Britain’s most vulnerable young adults and the homeless
• BIG backs innovative approach to early intervention
• BIG's innovative Next Steps to unlock power of social investment
• Grant Shapps: New £5m 'payment by results' deal to get rough sleepers off London's streets
• Big Society innovation aims to get families out of deprivation
• Big Society Bank launched

More news, opinions, documents, claims & counter-claims; Lots of ‘argy-bargy’ last week on costs/benefits of independence  and start-up costs, plus Scottish Affairs Committee publishes its report into Scotland's Membership of the European Union (EU), while the European Policy Centre Think Tank says Scotland would have little difficulty ‘retaining/gaining’ EU membership.

• Scottish government challenged to set out start costs for independence
• ScotGov:  Oil fund possible from day one of independence
• Target set to register all of Scotland’s land
• £1.3 trillion of UK assets to be shared with Scotland (Editor’s Note:  It would be helpful to know the % / value of assets already located in Scotland)
• £5bn increase in revenues by 2029 - Scottish Government
• Claims on EU opt-outs and special deals not credible
• BBC:  European Policy Centre Think Tank report backs Scotland EU membership
• Tax Freedom Day in Scotland could move back two weeks under independence 
• HMT:  Scottish people will be £1,400 better off as part of the UK analysis shows
• 5 things that make Scots £1,400 better off as part of the UK
• BBC:  Rivals row over richer Scots claims
• Daily Record:  John Swinney refuses THIRTEEN times to reveal start-up costs of Independent Scotland
• Protecting research funding in Scottish institutions if Scotland votes for independence
• Call for post-study work visa in Scotland
• BIG:  £1.5m to help young Scots into employment
• Lottery support for those facing financial hardship
• Additional support for Scottish families thanks to cash injection
• Awards for All as Scottish communities get set for summer
• An estate on the Isle of Lewis will come into community ownership, thanks to the latest Scottish Land Fund grants
• Scottish Land Fund puts Sanquhar community in control
• Lottery success for Scottish minority ethnic projects

(Editor’s Note:  As an independent country Scotland would presumably have to set up its own lottery

Classical or contemporary young performers aged between 14 & 24 now have the chance to get their music heard by industry insiders by entering The Big Music Project Competition, part of the BIG Lottery-funded The Big Music Project.

The competition will offer young performers the ultimate opportunity to get up close & personal with the music business and benefit from advice & mentoring from industry executives.   It will provide aspiring musicians with what they need to take a step towards a career as a professional musician.  Winners will have the once-in-a-lifetime opportunity to record at the famous Abbey Road Studios and perform live on stage at the Royal Albert Hall as part of the Classic FM Live series.

• The Big Music Project competition launches nationwide

The Business Secretary is proposing new measures for greater transparency of company payment practices to help smaller firms get paid on time.  The government will also work with the Institute of Credit Management (ICM) to strengthen the Prompt Payment Code and to increase accountability of signatories.  Where legislation is required to implement the package, it will be introduced when parliamentary time allows.

• New measures for greater transparency of company payment practices to help smaller firms get paid on time
• ICM:  Prompt Payment Code