On this special year in review episode of the podcast, the AccountingWEB team is joined by Lucy Cohen to look back at the big stories hitting the profession in 2021.

What a year it has been. The year started off with a series of compliance hurdles including the worst tax season ever, a tough lockdown, new Brexit VAT and custom rules, the VAT reverse charge and the IR35 reform was rolled out into the private sector. 

Squeezed in between this was the first of two Budgets. The first of which was a leaky Budget in March which saw an extension to the furlough scheme and the introduction of the new three step BLT process (Budget, legislation and tax day) which replaced the crash-bang-wallop Budgets. 

The second half of the year wasn’t much better. The furlough and SEISS schemes did wind down in the autumn, but accountants had skills shortages and a tough economic outlook to wrestle with instead. 

And then there was the drama of Making Tax Digital. The digital rollercoaster took an unexpected sharp turn midway through the year when the government announced a delay until April 2023.  

2021 was also a significant year for Lucy Cohen. Not only was it the 15th year anniversary of her firm Mazuma, but in October she picked up the coveted Outstanding Contribution Award at the glamorous Accounting Excellence award ceremony. 

Grab the last chocolate in the celebration tub, pour yourself a glass of mulled wine and reflect back on all the highs and lows of 2021.

You can find all the links to the stories discussed on this podcast here: https://www.accountingweb.co.uk/content/no-accounting-for-taste-ep107-review-of-the-year-2021