RULES making employers report all payments of wages to HM Revenue and Customs within seven days from April are “unworkable”, according to Paul Aplin, tax partner at Taunton-based chartered accountants A.C. Mole and Sons.

He said: “For many small businesses this new rule will mean running their payrolls 52 times a year instead of 12 – and it won’t raise 1p of extra tax.