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The Competition and Markets Authority (CMA) has launched a new campaign to help shoppers spot and avoid misleading online practices that could result in them being ripped off.

If the campaign identifies any commercial practices that adversely affect consumers then they can take enforcement action if a firm breaches consumer protection law and fails to respond to warnings.

In a poll of over 2,000 UK adults:

• 7 out of 10 had experienced misleading online practices
• 85% believed businesses using them were being dishonest with their customers
• And 83% were less likely to buy from them in the future

The misleading online practices, include:

• Hidden charges (85% of respondents) – unexpected compulsory fees, charges or taxes being added when someone tries to make an online purchase.
• Subscription traps (83%) – – misleading a customer into signing up to, and paying for, an unwanted subscription that can be difficult to cancel.
• Fake reviews (80%) – reviews which do not reflect an actual customer’s genuine opinion or experience of a product or service.
• Pressure selling (50%) – a tactic used to give a false impression of the limited availability or popularity of a product or service.

The CMA’s Chief Executive, stated:

‘As online shopping grows and grows, we’re increasingly concerned about businesses using misleading sales tactics, like pressure selling or hidden charges, to dupe people into parting with their cash.’

The campaign also has the support of Citizens Advice, to whom consumers can report problems with misleading practices that they have encountered online.

The Valuation Office Agency (VOA) is a government body in England and Wales and an executive agency of HMRC. The Agency values properties for the purpose of Council Tax and for non-domestic rates in England and Wales. The council tax bands were set on 1 April 1991 for England and on 1 April 2003 for Wales and range from Band A – F. 

If you believe that your council tax listing is incorrect you can challenge this with the VOA. A recent press release from the VOA has highlighted that some 70,000 households are expected to contact them over the coming months to ask for a review of their Council Tax band. 

An appeal against your current band can be made online and you need to give a reason for your challenge and provide supporting evidence. Legally, the VOA can only review Council Tax bands where the claimant provides certain types of evidence to show their banding is wrong, or if it meets certain criteria. 

This includes:

• You disagree with an alteration to your properties banding made by the VOA.
• You are new to the property in question and feel the valuation band too high or low.
• The property is no longer a dwelling.
• The local area has changed.
• The property is new or has only recently become used for domestic purposes.
• Change in a property e.g., flats merged into a house of vice versa.
• The valuation band does not take into account a relevant decision of a local Valuation Tribunal or the High Court. 

When submitting an appeal, you should include the reasons why you think the Valuation List should be altered and include documentary evidence where possible. You can also appoint someone else to challenge your council tax listing on your behalf. 

If you live in Scotland, then you need to use the Scottish Assessors portal website to check your Council Tax band and if necessary, lodge a claim with them (known as a proposal).

The introduction of Making Tax Digital (MTD) for Income Tax Self-Assessment (ITSA) is now set to commence from April 2024. MTD for ITSA will fundamentally change the way businesses, the self-employed and landlords interact with HMRC. The regime will require businesses and individuals to register, file, pay and update their information using an online tax account. The rules will initially apply to taxpayers who file Income Tax Self-Assessment tax returns with business or property income over £10,000 annually.

General partnerships will not be required to join MTD for ITSA until a year later, in April 2025. The date other types of partnerships will be required to join will be confirmed in the future. A new system of penalties for the late filing and late payment of tax for ITSA will be aligned with the introduction of MTD for ITSA.

The MTD regime started in April 2019 for VAT purposes only when businesses with a turnover above the VAT threshold were mandated to keep their records digitally and provide their VAT return information to HMRC using MTD compatible software. From April 2022, MTD will be extended to all VAT registered businesses with turnover below the VAT threshold of £85,000.

The Chancellor, Rishi Sunak delivered a statement to the House of Commons on 3 February 2022 announcing a number of measures to help people cope with fast rising energy costs.

Record increases will see a 54% jump in the energy price cap from 1 April 2022 affecting some 22 million customers across the UK. This will mean the average consumer paying by direct debit will face an annual increase of £693 from £1,277 to £1,971 per year with those paying by prepayment facing even higher costs. The price cap is updated twice a year and tracks wholesale energy and other costs.

The emergency package of measures announced by the Chancellor will see the government offer support with energy bills worth £9.1 billion in 2022-23.

This includes:

• A £200 discount on their energy bill this Autumn for domestic electricity customers in Great Britain. This will be paid back automatically over the next 5 years starting in 2023-4 when wholesale gas prices are expected to come down.
• A £150 non-repayable Council Tax Rebate payment for all households that are liable for Council Tax in Bands A-D in England.
• £144 million of discretionary funding for Local Authorities to support households who need support but are not eligible for the Council Tax Rebate.

The devolved administrations will receive around £715 million funding through the Barnett formula where UK Government support doesn’t cover Scotland, Wales or Northern Ireland.