04 April 2012
Leading UK law firm Burges Salmon has made up seven new partners from within the firm, as it continues to go from strength to strength in both UK and international markets.
09 March 2012
This article addresses the key issues surrounding the test of ownership and occupation of a farmhouse or dwelling in relation to APR assessment.
27 February 2012
There have recently been several cases which have considered the application of Principal Private Residence Relief (“PPR”). This relief, which is set out in s.222 of the Taxation of Chargeable Gains Act 1992, enables individuals to sell their main residence without incurring any Capital Gains Tax (“CGT”) liability.
27 February 2012
The recent case of Benson Partnership Limited v HMRC [2012] UKFTT 63 (TC) comments upon whether a company met the statutory eligibility conditions for the Enterprise Investment Scheme ("EIS") relief.
14 February 2012
This recent case makes the interesting point that a settlor of a trust can be assessed to income tax on interest and rental payments that he himself has made into the trust. It also comments upon the concept of mutuality and settlor-interested trusts.
30 January 2012
The recent case of Felixstowe Dock and Railway Company Limited v Others [2011] UKFTT 838 provides commentary on the availability of group relief to several companies, in respect of losses made by a UK company through an intermediate Luxembourg holding company.
06 January 2012
On 28 December 2011, the French Tax Authorities have released a ruling (the “Ruling”) setting out some of the details of the reporting obligations for trustees introduced by Article 14 of the Loi de Finances Rectificative of 31 July 2011 (the "New Law").
03 January 2012
In M Gilbert v HMRC [2011](UK FTT 705 (TC)), the Appellant's appeal was allowed by the First-tier Tribunal against the disallowance of Entrepreneurs' Relief by HMRC on the sale of part of the Appellant's business.
20 July 2011
In his Budget 2011 the Chancellor announced that he would be introducing a new Inheritance Tax relief to encourage gifts to charity. A Consultation Document was published on 10 June 2011, inviting comments by 31 August 2011. Subject to these comments, the new measures are to take effect from April 2012.
20 July 2011
Those who hope to preserve their inherited wealth on divorce may take heart from a recent case in which the Court of Appeal left more than 90% of the family's assets with the wife, who had inherited them prior to her marriage.
20 July 2011
The Court of Appeal has ruled that the estranged daughter of a women who left most of her estate to charity can make a claim under the Inheritance (Provision for Family and Dependents) Act 1975 ("1975 Act"). This is an important decision because whilst it was specific to its facts it goes against the previous flow of cases which suggested that it is very difficult for an adult child to win such a claim.
20 July 2011
Whether expenditure is capital or revenue is a key question for traders in computing their profits for tax purposes. This is because revenue expenditure is deductible immediately.
20 July 2011
In a recent divorce case the Court of Appeal has once again shown the willingness of the family courts to look behind trust structures. In the case of Whaley the court decided that a Jersey based trust should be counted in the parties' assets, even though the husband was not a beneficiary.
01 July 2011
The recent judgment of RE Clark v HMRC (9 May 2011) and HMRC's consultation document (published 28 June 2011) have provided an interesting debate on HMRC's common practice of "Coding out", and a taxpayer's right of appeal against "informal assessments" issued by HMRC.
29 June 2011
The High Court recently heard a test case regarding the correct procedure for claiming employment loss relief which is available to be carried back against income and gains of previous tax years. The Court held that such a claim must be made in respect of the year in which the loss arises, and may not be included in a taxpayer's return for an earlier year of assessment.
17 June 2011
The Government's proposed reforms to the taxation of non-domiciled individuals and statutory residence test have been published.
13 June 2011
The new 5% SDLT rate on residential properties with a purchase price of over £1 million came into force on 6 April 2011. The rate only applies where the property concerned is wholly residential, and if there is partial residential use, there is no apportionment of the value between different uses.
10 June 2011
The report by Richard MacDonald's "Farming Regulation Task Force" is a comprehensive and fascinating review of the regulatory problems faced by farmers and food processors. It even seems to supply answers to those problems.
10 June 2011
The complex application forms for the Single Payment Scheme have long been a source of frustration for farmers. A recent case has once again highlighted the problems farmers have encountered in completing the forms and the potential unfairness when innocent mistakes are made.
10 June 2011
The first, long awaited steps to putting in place the groceries code adjudicator, formerly known as the supermarket ombudsman, were taken on May 24 with the publication of the draft Groceries Code Adjudicator bill. While the move has been welcomed by many parts of the food supply chain, it still appears unlikely that an appointment will be made before 2013.
10 June 2011
In a move which has raised eyebrows politically, EU farm minister Dacian Ciolos has spoken out strongly against GM crops and their value in the quest to raise food production to meet growing global demand.
10 June 2011
A recent County Court case may offer some assistance to landowners faced with applications from local residents to register village greens on potential development land. It decided that where a local authority appropriates its own land for planning purposes - as it may under statutory powers - that act of appropriation will override village green rights if the property is developed in accordance with a planning permission. In these circumstances objectors to the development would have little to gain by pursuing registration of the land as a town or village green.
10 June 2011
The legal position, from a planning point of view, behind the demolition of buildings has recently changed following the case of The Queen (on the application of Save Britain's Heritage) and the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government [2011] EWCA Civ 334 ("Save Britain's Heritage"). In the past demolishing a building, whilst being an activity that needed planning permission, was relatively simple, by virtue of a 1995 Direction from the Secretary of State.
10 June 2011
A ruling in March this year on noise nuisance has sounded a warning bell for landowners and businesses where noisy activities and unhappy neighbours could be an issue.
10 June 2011
The Supreme Court has overruled a decision of the High Court (Jones v Kaney 2011) removing the protection from being sued that has been afforded to expert witnesses.
03 June 2011
The result of a farmhouse APR case has just been published which is good news for farmers hoping for relief on their farmhouse despite their semi-retired status or small acreage.
09 May 2011
In Thomas James Blanche v HMRC (21 February 2011), the First-Tier Tribunal upheld HMRC's decision to relieve an employer of liability for tax which it had incorrectly failed to deduct from an employee's earnings, and instead to impose liability for the shortfall on the employee. Does this case signal a lenient approach to employers who make errors in calculating PAYE?
09 May 2011
The First Tier Tribunal recently considered the correct test to determine whether a transfer of shares to an employee was within the meaning of "emolument" - and consequently chargeable to income tax - under section 19 of the Income Tax Act 1988 (ICTA 1988).
09 May 2011
The Appellant, Mr Wald, appealed against a penalty imposed on him under s. 95 Taxes Management Act 1970 (the "TMA") for negligently delivering to an officer of HMRC an incorrect return under s. 8 TMA, for the tax year 2006/2007. The Appellant appealed to the First-Tier Tribunal, where the judgment was given on 17 March 2011.
12 April 2011
Speed up your application to register a charity with the Charity Commission.
Charities with annual income of over £5,000 (and which are not exempt) must be registered with the Charity Commission. The registration process involves an on-line application providing details of the activities (or proposed activities) of the charity and of the trustees.
31 March 2011
The Coalition emergency Budget last June dramatically overhauled the capital gains tax (CGT) rules. Out went the flat rate of 18% to be replaced by a maximum rate of 28%. There is still no allowance for indexation but Entrepreneurs' Relief remains to reduce the rate of CGT to 10% on the disposal of business assets.
31 March 2011
Three recent announcements suggest that inheritance tax and schemes to avoid it are coming under ever greater scrutiny.
31 March 2011
Points of interest from the 2011 Budget.
29 March 2011
Positive news for international individuals in last week's Budget, together with changes to immigration rules coming in shortly, means the UK continues to be an attractive place for international individuals to come to live and work.
08 February 2011
This judgment (given 9 November 2010) in the Court of Appeal clarifies that it is the employee's responsibility to determine the position with HMRC for tax payable on any taxable elements received under a compromise agreement.
20 December 2010
This recent judgment made in the First-Tier Tribunal highlights to employers the importance of apportioning the component parts of a settlement payment under a compromise agreement, so that there is no confusion as to the tax treatment.
07 December 2010
The Upper Tribunal has ruled in favour of HMRC in the Airtours appeal concerning the entitlement to recover VAT on advisor fees.
19 November 2010
On 20 August 2010, the First-Tier Tribunal gave judgment on the meaning of "paid" and "unpaid" in relation to electronic payments to HMRC.
19 November 2010
The well-publicised ruling of the Supreme Court in Radmacher means that pre-marital agreements, commonly known as pre-nups, are now more likely to be upheld on divorce, and so they will inevitably become more commonplace.
19 November 2010
The recent Court of Appeal ruling in the high-profile case of Imerman v Tchenguiz means that divorcing and separating couples should exercise caution before searching for information about their spouse’s finances.
19 November 2010
At the end of August we heard that HMRC had failed in their appeal in the Balfour case. The case concerned whether inheritance tax business property relief (BPR) was available on a Scottish agricultural estate which comprised of a mixture of in-hand farms and let land, cottages and buildings.
19 November 2010
For many years, Liechtenstein has been known as a tax haven – a tiny and opaque jurisdiction where the world’s wealthy could take advantage of low taxes and strong banking secrecy laws to shelter assets from the taxman. The low taxes and commitment to client privacy remain. But its image as a shelter for tax evaders is rapidly becoming outdated.
08 October 2010
Last month we heard that HMRC had failed in their appeal in the Balfour case. The case concerned whether inheritance tax business property relief (BPR) was available on a Scottish agricultural estate which comprised a mixture of in-hand farms and let land, cottages and buildings.
22 September 2010
Sarah Woodsford, a senior associate in the family law unit at Burges Salmon, has been recognised for her hard work and dedication to serving the needs of wealthy clients and has made it into the 'Top 35 Under 35' list.
27 July 2010
The new Flood and Water Management Act 2010 is likely to have a significant impact on farming operations, especially on low lying land or where there is a farm reservoir or man made lake. One of the Act's central objectives is to shift the emphasis away from flood defence to "flood and coastal erosion risk management", a concept which allows rural land to flood to protect urban centres.
27 July 2010
The Coalition’s emergency Budget was delivered on 22 June. The focus was primarily on significant cuts to public spending rather than tax increases, although inevitably tax rates did not escape unscathed. There were no announcements about inheritance tax or the status of non-domiciliaries but of course the Chancellor needs to keep something up his sleeve for next time!
22 July 2010
In what turned out to be Alastair Darling’s final Budget on 24 March, he decided to focus on optimistic growth forecasts with relatively few changes to the tax system in a bid to save his party from election defeat. This left the difficult decisions as to how to tackle the current budget deficit through control of public spending and taxation to be made after the general election; a problem he has now handed over to George Osborne.
25 June 2010
If you are a partner, your duty of good-faith to your other partners continues even after the partnership terminates. If you fail in this duty, your ex-partners may use this to defend outstanding claims you bring against them.
25 June 2010
HMRC confirm that UK beneficiaries of offshore trusts who receive excess capital payments before 23 June 2010 will, for the remainder of the 2010/11 tax year, be taxed under the "old" rules - even if the capital payment is matched with a later capital gain. For further details read on:
23 June 2010
Our employment team has been placed 'runner up' at The Lawyer Awards 2010.
28 May 2010
Since 6 April 2010 local authorities have had the right (not the obligation) to charge Community Infrastructure Levy ("CIL") in order to provide a coordinated and predictable method for the funding of infrastructure works on developments.
05 May 2010
Agricultural property relief was allowed on the former home of a deceased farmer, despite it being unoccupied for 4 years before his death while he was in a nursing home.
09 April 2010
It was widely anticipated that an increase in the level of capital gains tax (CGT) would be announced in Budget 2010, however, the only change was an increase in the lifetime allowance for entrepreneurs' relief (ER) from £1 million to £2 million. Please click to read on.
17 February 2010
Our Energy and Private Client teams were both short-listed for a Legal Business award.
15 February 2010
With a general election just round the corner, the main political parties have stepped up their campaigns and inevitably these have focussed on the important issues of public spending and tax and how to address the current budget deficit problem of around £175 billion. This looks likely to mean increased rates of personal tax. Click on the link to read more.
15 February 2010
Since the changes to inheritance tax in 2006, advisors have been talking about the advantages of using family partnerships (FPs) as an alternative. FPs are seen to offer many of the same features as trusts, but (crucially) without an immediate 20% inheritance tax (IHT) charge on their creation. However, despite these seeming advantages, progress has been slow and few FPs have actually been created. This article gives a candid view of the benefits and pitfalls of FPs.
15 February 2010
Following some significant teething problems with the new Lasting Powers of Attorney (the replacements for Enduring Powers of Attorney), a new version of the LPA forms became available from 1st October 2009.
15 February 2010
From the beginning of 2010 local authorities will have new powers to ensure that private water supplies provide wholesome water. The main headline for landowners is that failure to comply with notices served by local authorities to undertake work to improve the quality of supply is now a criminal offence.
15 February 2010
If you are a member of a final salary pension scheme and not yet retired, proposed changes from April 2011 could impose penal new tax charges on you. In one case we have seen, the effective tax rate was 230%! For more information read on.
06 January 2010
Jack Straw has issued a Ministerial Statement indicating that the UK will exercise its right to opt-out of the European Commission's proposed regulation governing succession and wills. The particular areas of concern are claw-back and the common connecting factor. Click on the link to read more.
16 November 2009
HMRC has in recent years become extremely keen to charge penalties where Executors fail to declare or undervalue assets comprised in a deceased's estate. For further details please click on the link.
16 November 2009
Following several years of consultation the European Union have proposed a Regulation with the objective of simplifying the procedure where someone dies owning assets in more than one EU country.
16 November 2009
Electricity suppliers are now obliged to show that a certain proportion of the electricity they supply comes from renewable sources. To find out how electricity suppliers are doing this please click on the link.
16 November 2009
It is a long-established principle that planning consent cannot authorise a nuisance. A local planning authority may authorise an activity, but a court may still impose restrictions (or even a complete ban) if the activity is causing a nuisance.
10 November 2009
If you're not domiciled in the UK and (might) make capital losses, read this article.