Mark Taylor

3 weeks ago | accountingweb.co.uk | Mark Taylor

Proposals set out by the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government (MHCLG) consolidate audit oversight, procurement, training and quality control into a new Local Audit Office (LAO) by autumn 2026. If approved, it would mark the most significant restructuring of local council audits in a generation, following years of murkiness and uncertainty around spending and financial health.

3 weeks ago | accountingweb.co.uk | Mark Taylor

HMRC has lost £47m to a “sophisticated” fraud after cybercriminals used stolen personal data to access or create tens of thousands of online tax accounts. Senior officials told the Treasury Select Committee that the scam, which began last year, affected approximately 100,000 individuals - roughly 0.2% of the UK PAYE population. The criminals used data harvested through phishing scams to either set up new HMRC accounts or hijack existing ones, with the goal of fraudulently claiming tax repayments.

Dec 11, 2024 | accountingweb.co.uk | Mark Taylor

Crowe has been fined £650,000 by the UK accounting watchdog for failures in the audit of purported music streaming service Akazoo, it was announced on Tuesday. The firm’s CEO, Nigel Bostock, was also penalised and severely reprimanded by the Financial Reporting Council (FRC), following similar sanctions by US authorities last August over the debacle. “The auditors’ failings in this case were very serious,” said Jamie Symington, deputy executive counsel at the FRC.

Dec 11, 2024 | accountingweb.co.uk | Mark Taylor

Crowe has been fined £650,000 by the UK accounting watchdog for failures in the audit of purported music streaming service Akazoo, it was announced on Tuesday. The fine was further reduced to £455,000. The firm’s CEO, Nigel Bostock, was also penalised and severely reprimanded by the Financial Reporting Council (FRC), following similar sanctions by US authorities last August over the debacle.

Nov 28, 2024 | accountingweb.co.uk | Mark Taylor

Rather than cut its helplines entirely, HMRC is turning to robots to help sort out its backlog of complaints. The tax inspectorate is trialling the use of generative artificial intelligence (GenAI) tools across operations, HMRC chief executive Jim Harra told the Treasury Select Committee on Wednesday.