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The first wholly Conservative Budget in almost 19 years sparked largely optimistic reactions from tax experts today, with George Osborne’s plans described as “entirely sensible”, “pleasing”, and akin to the work of one of history’s greatest artists.

“The chancellor resembled Michelangelo as he re-sculpted the UK tax system, taxing dividends, proposing changes to pensions, adding a new tax on banks, cutting corporate tax rates, and restricting interest relief on buy-to-let investments,” said EY’s head of tax policy, Chris Sanger.

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A record amount of inheritance tax (IHT) was paid into the public purse during April, new figures show.

HMRC received £379m in the same month in which the Conservative party said it would raise the IHT threshold to £1m for some taxpayers – a pledge that looks set to be fulfilled in this week’s Budget.

M Joyce (TC4453)

The UK’s plans for delivering tax-free childcare are lawful, the Supreme Court has ruled, leading the government to confirm that the scheme will be launched in early 2017.

The current voucher system, employer-supported childcare, will remain open to entrants until the new set-up comes into place, providing an estimated 1.8m families with up to £2,000 of childcare support per child per year.

Almost 51,000 phishing emails were reported to HMRC around 2014’s tax credit season – April to July – marking a 100% rise in the number for the same period the year before, official figures show.

The scam messages frequently offered a refund from a “tax credit office agent”, or included a link to a fake version of the GOV.UK website.

Recipients were often asked to provide bank details or similarly sensitive information. Fraudsters then tried to take money from their victims’ account, or sell the people’s identities to fellow criminals.

HMRC are working with the Royal Association for Deaf people (RAD) to pilot new services for hearing-impaired taxpayers.

People who handle their own affairs but are unable to speak to the Revenue directly can contact a British sign language (BSL) interpreter via a webcam, and the interpreter will talk directly to a tax department adviser on the phone to create a three-way conversation.

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