As lockdowns loom across the land with the introduction of a three-tier system of restrictions based on local COVID-19 alert levels, at the highest alert level (tier 3) certain businesses will be forced to close, including pubs and bars (unless they serve substantial meals). To support businesses that are legally required to close as a … Continue Reading
As the UK braces itself for a second wave of COVID-19 the UK Chancellor has announced the Treasury’s Winter Economy Plan with the aim of protecting jobs and supporting businesses over the coming months. Despite the measures introduced in the Chancellor’s Summer Statement (reported by us https://www.proskauer.com/blog/chancellors-summer-statement-focuses-on-hospitality-sector), the UK’s economic recovery “is fragile” amidst the … Continue Reading
Following the European Court of Justice’s (ECJ) rulings in Meo and Vodafone Portugal, HMRC has recently updated its VAT manual and published a brief (https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/revenue-and-customs-brief-12-2020-vat-early-termination-fees-and-compensation-payments/) stating that payments arising out of early contract termination will now be treated as consideration for a taxable supply therefore subject to VAT. This marks a significant change from HMRC’s … Continue Reading
In Dodika Ltd & Ors v United Luck Group Holdings Limited, the High Court (HC) has accepted the sellers’ argument that a notice of a tax claim under a tax covenant served on them by the buyer was invalid because it did not contain the level of information required by the provision in the related … Continue Reading
As the UK’s lockdown is relaxed and unemployment figures are expected to continue to rise, the UK Chancellor gave his summer statement announcing measures to stimulate the economy as it recovers from the effects of coronavirus with a clear emphasis on encouraging people to spend money, particularly in the hospitality sector, to try to protect … Continue Reading
The UK government has opened a consultation on draft legislation concerning the taxation of coronavirus business support payments. HMRC want views on the technical effectiveness of the proposed legislation in ensuring that grants covered by the legislation are subject to tax. Such grants include the much-reported Coronavirus Job Retention Scheme (“CJRS”) (as reported by us … Continue Reading
The UK’s First-tier tax tribunal (FTT) has just released an interesting decision considering whether or not expenses incurred by a parent company on advisers’ fees that related to a proposed disposal by a group subsidiary and were charged on to its subsidiary were deductible as expenses of management of the subsidiary under section 1219 of … Continue Reading
There has been much discussion over the past year or so about the UK government’s proposal to make changes to the application of the off-payroll working (or IR35) tax rules to private sector end clients so as to shift certain employment status assessment and, depending on the circumstances, employment tax payment obligations from the worker’s … Continue Reading
In light of COVID-19, and in response to requests from European trade associations, the European Commission has published its proposal to amend Directive 2011/16/EU which deals with various strands of administrative co-operation in the field of taxation. Significantly, the proposal includes an extension to the time limit for reporting information under the new rules on … Continue Reading
In response to the COVID-19 crisis HMRC has updated its guidance on the process for getting documents stamped and paying the stamp duty, including that: Stock transfer forms should not be posted to the Stamp Office. Instead an electronic copy (which can be a scanned PDF) should be emailed to HMRC at stampdutymailbox@hmrc.gov.uk. The form … Continue Reading
There has been considerable discussion about the effect that the travel restrictions resulting from the COVID-19 pandemic might have on the tax residence of companies, particularly where directors are stuck in a different jurisdiction and cannot attend board meetings as they would in normal circumstances. On 7 April, HMRC updated its published guidance to discuss … Continue Reading
Introduction In these testing times the ramifications of COVID-19 continue to be felt in every area of personal and corporate life. With lockdowns announced around the world, including in the UK on 23 March 2020, travel has been severely curtailed and business practices are having to change accordingly. Below we discuss what this means for … Continue Reading
Earlier this evening (26 March 2020) the UK Chancellor announced the new Self-Employed Income Support Scheme to help the self-employed face the economic hardship wrought by the COVID-19 pandemic. Below are the key points: The scheme will provide direct cash grants of 80 per cent of individuals’ taxable profits (based on average monthly trading profit … Continue Reading
Earlier this evening the UK Chancellor announced an economic intervention which is “unprecedented in the history of the British state” with measures to support the United Kingdom economy in the midst of COVID-19. Below are the key measures he announced for businesses: The government is setting up a Coronavirus Job Retention Scheme. The scheme will … Continue Reading
Last night (17 March 2020) the UK’s Chief Secretary to the Treasury, Steve Barclay, announced in the House of Commons that the government is postponing the implementation of the changes to the application of the off payroll working tax rules to private sector clients (IR35) from 6 April 2020 to 6 April 2021 to ease … Continue Reading
In addition to the measures announced in last week’s UK Budget 2020 (as we reported in our Tax Talks blog of 16 March 2020 The UK Budget and Coronavirus), at the UK Prime Minister’s daily briefing today the UK Chancellor announced further measures to support businesses affected by coronavirus (COVID-19). The Treasury will make available … Continue Reading
As part of the UK’s Budget 2020, the Treasury has announced a range of measures aimed at assisting UK businesses, in particular small and medium sized businesses (SMEs), in tackling disruption caused by the coronavirus (COVID-19) outbreak. The UK government will be hoping that such measures assist in lessening any longer term economic impact caused … Continue Reading
The UK Budget took place on 11 March. In its first post-Brexit Budget with substantial spending announcements, the Treasury wants to continue to ensure the UK remains an attractive and competitive place to invest and do business. We have summarized here the most notable tax changes that will be of interest to our corporate and … Continue Reading
As we reported in our Tax Talks blog of 8 January, the Government has carried out a review of the implementation of the changes to the private sector IR35 rules. This review has now completed with the Government confirming on 27 February that the extension of the IR35 rules to the private sector will take … Continue Reading
There has been much talk recently about “review and reform” (or abolition) of entrepreneurs’ relief. This seems to have moved a step closer this week with Boris Johnson stating that the Treasury are “fulminating” against it on the basis that it made “staggeringly rich” people “even more staggeringly rich”. The debate about this was kicked … Continue Reading
In the Finance Act 2018, the UK Government enacted a number of changes to the information required in partnership returns that raised the concern of undue and impracticable administrative burden being imposed on UK investment fund partnerships. The changes covered a number of areas, including requiring a UK partnership that had partnerships amongst its partners … Continue Reading
As announced by the Chancellor in the run up to the recent General Election, the Government is launching a review into the implementation of the changes to the IR35 rules for private sector workers scheduled to be introduced on 6 April. We have reported on the changes to the IR35 rules for workers providing services … Continue Reading
Draft legislation included in the Finance Bill 2019-2020 will potentially make directors and certain other individuals closely connected to a company jointly and severally liable for a company’s tax liabilities that arise from avoidance, evasion or repeated insolvency and non-payment of tax debts or tax-related penalties of the company. The legislation is targeted at individuals … Continue Reading
New rules to be introduced from April 2020 will make certain companies who engage workers through intermediaries (the “client”) subject to: assessing whether the workers should be treated as employees of the company; and operating employment tax (PAYE and NICs) in respect of payments made to the workers or their intermediary. Currently these obligations rest … Continue Reading
