The Court of Appeal has confirmed in Burlington Loan Management DAC v HMRC that “obtaining the benefit of” a tax treaty is not the same as “taking advantage of” it. The treaty anti-abuse rule will only apply where the taxpayer seeks to obtain that benefit in a way that is
HMRC proposes expanded reporting for close company shareholder transactions
Many of our clients and readers will be familiar with the “loan to participator” rules. These rules apply to loans made by close companies, which in general terms are companies which are controlled by five or fewer participators (or by any number of participators who are also shareholders), to their
Share Buyback Qualified for Capital Treatment Where Undertaken for Genuine Trade Benefit
In Boulting v HMRC, the First-tier Tribunal (FTT) delivered a welcome decision for taxpayers on the tax treatment of a company purchase of its own shares.
The general rule is that when a UK-resident company purchases its own shares from a UK-resident shareholder, the shareholder is subject to dividend
Hotel La Tour Supreme Court Ruling: Final Confirmation on VAT Recovery for Share Sale Adviser Fees
In a unanimous judgment, the UK Supreme Court has given final confirmation that VAT incurred on adviser fees connected with an exempt share sale is not recoverable, endorsing the Court of Appeal’s strict application of the “direct and immediate link” test. The decision brings finality to an area that had
Upcoming changes to the company share options plan regime
Company share option plans (CSOP) and enterprise management incentives (EMI) are two statutory share option regimes that can be used to incentivise employees in a tax-efficient way. Broadly, where the relevant qualifying criteria have been met, both the CSOP and EMI schemes allow employees to acquire shares in their employer
Massive U-Turn on Mini Budget
As has been widely reported, a number of the Mini Budget proposals (summarised in our recent Tax Blog) have been scrapped. The new Chancellor of the Exchequer Jeremy Hunt announced these measures claiming that they are estimated to raise £32 billion in taxes every year. More tax rises and
UK Mini Budget 2022
UK Mini Budget 2022
The Chancellor today unveiled the UK’s 2022 Growth Plan which has been described as being “the biggest package of tax cuts in generations”. We have summarised here the tax changes that we think will be of interest to our client base.
- UK corporation tax: the main
UK Budget 2021
The UK has now been in lockdown, on and off, for the best part of a year. With the COVID-19 vaccination programme now in full swing in the UK, and hopefully with light at the end of tunnel, attention has inevitably turned to the question of “how are we going
Narrowing of UK intermediaries’ DAC 6 reporting requirements
On 30 December, the UK government laid regulations that will significantly reduce the type of cross-border arrangement that will need to be reported by UK intermediaries under the so-called DAC 6 rules on 31 January 2021 and in the future.
In the last year or so, we have regularly written
Conservative Legislative Agenda Set Out in Queen’s Speech
Following the UK general election on 8 June 2017, at which Theresa May’s Conservative party won the largest number of seats but lost its overall majority, the Queen’s Speech setting out the now minority Conservative government’s legislative programme for the next two years was delivered on 21 June 2017 at