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9am Lowdown: HMRC chief boots footballers' avoidance schemes

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8th Dec 2016
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Good morning and welcome to Thursday’s 9am Lowdown.

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HMRC chief boots footballers' avoidance schemes

Jon Thomson, HMRC’s chief executive, has marked premier league footballers who use image rights tax avoidance schemes as being “on his list of priorities”.

According to the Guardian, The HMRC chief – who admitted to being a Norwich City supporter - told the public accounts committee during a meeting on high net worth individuals that offshore rights payments were “the most significant risk in football”.

Thomspson revealed that 43 players, eight agents and 12 clubs are currently the subject to ongoing inquiries from the Revenue. He said: “I think if it was me, I would want to review this,” he said, adding that the topic “would certainly be on my list of priorities [when thinking of] policies to talk about [with ministers]”.

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Xero launches Facebook chatbot

Xero has unveiled a Facebook messenger chatbot called ‘Hey Xero’ which connects small businesses with Xero-certified partners.

Small businesses looking for an accountant or a bookkeeper can engage Xero’s chatbot through Facebook messenger. The chatbot converses with the small business and showcases through a series of questions its partners operating in their location.  

Doug LaBahn, Xero’s global VP partner marketing, said the chatbot will “open up a huge opportunity for the industry from within advisor directory”. He added: “With our chatbot, we can connect these [small] businesses with the right advisor using Facebook messenger. For our partners, it’s a seamless way to be found and will help millions of small businesses be more productive, get the advice they need to grow and create jobs.”

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HMRC civil servants are on the move

5,700 HMRC civil servants will soon be moving from their Whitehall home to Canary Wharf in a cost saving measure, the FT reports.

The new east London offices marks the first step in the government’s aim to launch large hubs across Britain. The Government Property Unit on Tuesday said it had leased a building of 540,000 sq ft in the eastern financial cluster from Barclays.

Talking about the new ‘Whitehall offshoot’, Ben Gummer, minister for the Cabinet Office said: “This new hub will provide a better working environment for many London-based civil servants at considerably less cost to the taxpayer . . . We will be replicating this approach across the United Kingdom, putting right the historic mistake of forcing public servants to work in ugly and expensive buildings.” 

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