The government says it has improved safeguards to protect vulnerable taxpayers in its plans to recover tax and tax credit debts directly from taxpayers’ bank accounts.

New research has found that fewer than half of the smallest employers know their staging date – the date when they must start auto-enrolling eligible workers into a qualifying workplace pension scheme.

The number of businesses receiving export support has increased by 50 per cent in the last financial year, the government has announced.

Small and medium-sized businesses are being urged to become more proactive in protecting themselves against online fraud.

HM Revenue & Customs (HMRC) is to increase the amount of money it can take through PAYE to settle tax debts from April 2015.