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
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Update: Federal Rulings Ease COVID‑Era Interest, Penalty and Filing Burdens
Update: The National Taxpayer Advocate has published a blog post urging taxpayers to evaluate whether they have claims for refund based on the recent Abdo and Kwong decisions. Importantly, the Taxpayer Advocate suggests that the argument for penalty and interest relief based on the COVID pandemic disaster declarations 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…
Federal Rulings Ease COVID‑Era Interest, Penalty and Filing Burdens
Relief from underpayment interest, failure-to-file penalties, and failure-to-pay penalties—as well as relief from IRS filing deadlines that arose during the COVID-19 pandemic—may be possible under two recent federal cases from the US Tax Court and the US Court of Federal Claims. Specifically, the recent Kwong decision indicates that the period of the COVID-19 federally declared disaster extended from January 20, 2020 to July 10, 2023. Filing deadlines that would have normally occurred and interest and penalties that would have normally accrued during this period may have been suspended under the reasoning articulated in Kwong. Taxpayer deadlines for seeking relief are fast approaching, and the time to review pandemic-era tax filings and tax accounts is now.
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…
One Big Beautiful Bill: Update on Provisions for Nonprofits
On May 22, 2025, the House of Representatives passed the One Big Beautiful Bill Act (H.R. 1, hereafter the “Revised House Bill”). The Revised House Draft Bill contains certain changes to the original bill that was released on May 12, 2025 by the House Ways and Means Committee (the “Original House Draft…
Proposed Changes to Interest Rate Tax Treatment for RICs
The One Big Beautiful Bill Act (the “OBBBA“), passed by the U.S. House of Representatives (the “House“) on May 22, 2025, is a comprehensive legislative package that seeks to implement sweeping reforms in tax policy, immigration, healthcare, and infrastructure as part of the federal budget reconciliation…
Final Regulations Issued for Certain Partnership Related Party Basis Adjustment Transactions
Introduction
On January 10, 2025, the Treasury Department and the U.S. Internal Revenue Service (the “IRS”) released final regulations (the “regulations”) classifying certain partnership related party basis adjustment transactions and substantially similar transactions as transactions of interest, a type of reportable transaction, which requires disclosure for the taxpayer and its…
Final Regulations Issued on Allocation of Partnership Liabilities Under Section 752
Introduction
On December 2, 2024, the U.S. Department of the Treasury (“Treasury”) and the Internal Revenue Service (the “IRS”) published final regulations (the “Final Regulations”) on section 752[1] regarding the allocation of partnership recourse liabilities in situations in which multiple partners and related parties bear part or all of…