Tax News

Tax News: May 2025

Zoe Andrews and Tanja Velling discuss the First-tier Tribunal’s decisions in:

• Candy giving overpayment relief for an SDLT charge on the substantial performance of a contract that was later cancelled
• Refinitiv on the taxpayer’s successful application for a direction to issue closure notices
• Vaccine Research Limited Partnership where purposive construction was used to look at transactions in the round and conclude that certain licence fees were not “income” 

They also cover the Court of Appeal’s decision in WTGIL on the scope of the VAT exemption for insurance intermediation. 

The podcast further discusses the postponement of the consultation on the tax treatment of pre-development costs, HMRC’s revised guidance on the salaried members rules, legislation on territories recognised as having implemented a qualifying income inclusion rule or domestic minimum tax, and a few other UK domestic and international developments. 

Tax News: April 2025

Partner Alex Dustan from our Infrastructure and Energy team joined the April 2025 edition of our Tax News podcast to discuss the consultation on a “new permanent mechanism…to respond to future oil and gas price shocks” once the Energy Profits Levy ends, and the Court of Appeal’s decision in Gunfleet Sands on tax relief for pre-development costs.

Zoe Andrews and Tanja Velling discuss the consultation on advance tax certainty for major projects and certain other points from the UK Chancellor’s Spring Statement. The podcast further covers the First-tier Tribunal’s decision in Hastings Insurance Services allowing input tax recovery in respect of a so-called “offshore looping structure” - the decision is of wider interest as an example of the application of the UK’s VAT rules post-Brexit - and the Court of Appeal’s decision in Innovative Bites on the VAT classification of Mega Marshmallows. Zoe and Tanja also touch on some EU developments.

Tax News: March 2025

In this podcast, tax associate Stephanie Mullins joins Zoe Andrews and Tanja Velling to discuss the UK Supreme Court’s decision in Royal Bank of Canada which could call into question received wisdom on the Ramsay principle of statutory interpretation.

Zoe and Tanja draw out lessons on evidence and witness selection from the First-tier Tribunal’s decision in Lloyds Asset Leasing before touching on a High Court decision in a VAT-related judicial review, HMRC’s revised view on Condition C in the salaried members rules, updates on changes to inheritance tax reliefs and business rates, and a National Audit Office report on the administrative cost of the UK tax system.

The podcast’s international section focuses on the US with updates on the domestic tax policy process, a new reciprocal trade and tariff policy, and a memorandum which foreshadows US action against digital services taxes and wider policies to regulate digital businesses.

Tax News: February 2025

In this podcast, Tax Associate Nadia Hourihan joins Zoe Andrews and Tanja Velling to discuss the Court of Appeal’s decision in ScottishPower that payments in lieu of penalties are tax deductible (even though no tax deduction would have been available for the penalties themselves).  

Zoe and Tanja further discuss the First-tier Tribunal’s decision in NHS Mid & South Essex that withholding tax applied to an interest element included in certain redress payments.

The podcast also covers the potential impact of President Trump’s inauguration day announcement on international tax reform, before diving into recent UK developments in relation to the multinational top-up tax and the domestic top-up tax (new draft HMRC guidance and government amendments to the Finance Bill) and OECD publications on Pillar Two, including new Administrative Guidance.

Tax News: January 2025

In this podcast, Zoe Andrews and Tanja Velling discuss the First-tier Tribunal’s decision in Blackfriars Hotel applying an anti-avoidance provision in the loss relief regime to a loss-refreshing transaction reminiscent of the Kwik-Fit unallowable purpose case.

They also discuss the First-tier Tribunal’s decision in Grint on the sale of occupational income rules (which had been used by HMRC as an alternative argument in the BlueCrest, HFFX and BCG  partnership remuneration cases) and the Court of Appeal’s decision in Refinitiv, a judicial review case concerning the compatibility of diverted profits tax notices with a prior advance pricing agreement.

They are then joined by Tax Associate Kasim Mehmood for a discussion of the Supreme Court’s approach to interpreting tax legislation in Cobalt Data Centre and changes to HMRC’s capital gains manual in respect of the reorganisation rules.

The podcast also covers PISCES, a proposed new type of regulated trading platform for private shares, and what 2025 might bring in terms of UK, EU and US tax developments, including (in case of the UK) various consultations on changes to the transfer pricing rules as well as potential enquiry activity in this area.

Tax News - U.S. tax policy post-election

In this special episode of our Tax News podcast, Zoe Andrews and Tanja Velling asked Arvind Ravichandran, Tax Partner at Cravath, Swaine & Moore LLP, what U.S. tax policy may look like during a second Trump Administration.

During the episode, we cover:

• The significance of the Republican Party achieving a “trifecta” in the November 2024 elections.
• How tax legislation can be passed by simple majority vote through the Budget Reconciliation process.
• What policy proposals could be on the table and how you can look out for clues as the incoming Administration’s policies develop.

Listen to the podcast to learn more about what might happen next on U.S. tax policy.

Tax News: November 2024

In this podcast, Catrin Young, Senior Professional Support Lawyer in the Pensions Team, joins Zoe Andrews and Tanja Velling to discuss the government’s policy decision at the Autumn Budget to bring unused pension savings and death benefits into the scope of inheritance tax (with the charge to be administered by pension trustees), and HMRC’s recent clarification that the authorised surplus payment charge payable by the trustees of a defined benefits scheme when returning a surplus to an employer is to be calculated by reference to the gross amount of the surplus (rather than the amount received by the employer).

Zoe and Tanja also discuss the increase in late payment interest from April 2025, two updates to HMRC guidance, the UK expert panel’s report on a potential corporate re-domiciliation regime and certain international developments.

The podcast further covers three UK cases: the First-tier Tribunal’s decision in Syngenta, denying interest deductions for a loan created in an intra-group reorganisation under the unallowable purpose rule in section 441 of the Corporation Tax Act 2009, and the Upper Tribunal’s decisions in Gould on the tax point for an interim dividend where two shareholders were paid around eight months apart, and in Panayi on conforming interpretation.

Tax News: October 2024

In this podcast, tax associate Alex Sim joins Zoe Andrews and Tanja Velling to discuss the Upper Tribunal’s decision in Muller on the interaction of certain provisions in the intangible fixed assets regime with the rules on the taxation of partnerships.  

Zoe and Tanja also discuss the CJEU’s decisions in the Apple and UK CFC rules State aid cases, the Supreme Court’s decision in Professional Game Match Officials Limited on employment status and the stamp duty land tax case Brindleyplace in which the First-tier Tribunal employed purposive construction in favour of the taxpayer.