Tax News

Tax news highlights: May 2022

In this podcast, Zoe Andrews and Tanja Velling discuss the First-Tier Tribunal decisions in Sally Judges on the question whether legislative amendments and related materials can influence the interpretation of the provisions in their form before the amendment took effect, in Alexander Beard on the nature of dividends paid out of share premium, in JTI where interest deductions for the intra-group funding of a third party acquisition were denied under the loan relationships unallowable purpose rule and in Hexagon Properties which considers whether a payment of damages effected through a loan waiver is taxable under the loan relationships regime.

They also cover the Supreme Court decision in NCL that the taxpayers were entitled to a deduction as a trading expense in respect of their accounting debits recognised on the grant of share options to their respective employees by an employee benefit trust. The podcast further covers the summary of responses published by the UK government in respect of their consultation on the introduction of a UK re-domiciliation regime and the European Commission’s ongoing consultation on a “new EU system to avoid double taxation” including the potential harmonization of withholding tax refunds.

Tax news highlights: March 2022

In this podcast, Zoe Andrews and Tanja Velling consider the Chancellor’s Spring Statement which was delivered on 23 March 2022, the latest developments in the two-pillar process towards international tax reform and how the possibility of the UK’s introduction of an online sales tax sits with its international obligations.

The podcast also covers a number of recent cases: the Upper Tribunal’s decision in Royal Bank of Canada where payments received by the bank, a Canadian tax resident, were subject to UK corporation tax because they were linked to an oil field, the Court of Appeal’s decision in SKAT v Solo Capital Partners on the admissibility of the Danish tax authority’s claims in relation to withholding tax refunds alleged to have been obtained through misrepresentation, the First-tier Tribunal’s decision in Cider of Sweden on third party access to documents related to proceedings before the First-tier Tribunal, and the First-tier Tribunal’s decision in Scottish Power, as contrasted with the earlier decision in BES Commercial Electricity, on the deductibility of compensation payments following regulatory failings.

Tax News Highlights: February 2022

In this podcast, Zoe Andrews and Tanja Velling consider the increasing interest in the link between tax and climate action in particular in light of the High Court decision in R (oao Cox & Others) v The Oil And Gas Authority & Others, the new public interest business protection tax which is proposed to be enacted as part of the current Finance Bill, HMRC’s revised draft guidance on the large business notification of uncertain tax treatment and HM Treasury’s consultation on the UK’s implementation of Pillar Two.

They also cover the European Commission’s proposal for a directive to prevent the misuse of shell entities which is commonly referred to as Unshell or ATAD3, considering in particular its potential impact on the UK, as well as the publication of the revised, 2022 edition of OECD’s transfer pricing guidelines, and the Court of Appeal’s decision in the Embiricos case on partial closure notices which confirms that the regime cannot be used to force a judicial determination of a preliminary legal issue.

Tax news highlights: January 2022

In this podcast, Zoe Andrews and Tanja Velling are joined by Nele Dhondt to discuss the latest developments in tax State aid cases, focusing in particular on the decision of the Court of Justice in the Spanish financial goodwill case and the AG opinion in Fiat.

Tax News Highlights: December 2021

In this podcast, Zoe Andrews and Tanja Velling cover three highlights from the UK’s Tax Administration and Maintenance Day – proposed reforms of the taxation of securitisation and insurance-linked securities, the Government’s response to the OTS review of CGT, indicating that an alignment of CGT and income tax rates is not currently on the cards, but the Government is considering whether to allow a corporate bond to include an irrevocable provision to specify that it is subject to CGT, and the action points from the review of large businesses’ experience of UK tax administration, including the development of new “Guidelines for Compliance”.

They further discuss the delayed publication of the consultation on a UK-wide online sales tax in the context of international tax reform as well as key takeaways from HMRC’s latest Report and Accounts and the Tax Receipts statistics for 2020 to 2021. The podcast also covers the Upper Tribunal’s decision in Assem Allam which casts doubt on HMRC’s guidance suggesting that, in the context of the definition of “trading company” in the TCGA, “substantial” could be taken to mean “more than 20%” and the First-tier-Tribunal’s decision in the Hargreaves Property Holdings on interest withholding tax.

Tax news highlights: November 2021

In this podcast, Zoe Andrews and Tanja Velling provide an update on the OECD/G20 Inclusive Framework’s two-pillar solution to address the tax challenges arising from the digitalisation of the economy, highlighting potential stumbling blocks on the road to implementation and the joint statement from Austria, France, Italy, Spain, the UK and the US on the transition away from digital services taxes published on 21 October 2021. They discuss the Health and Social Care Levy Act 2021 and a selection of measures included in Finance Bill 2022, including the decrease in the banking surcharge, revised draft legislation for the large business notification of uncertain tax treatment and changes to the diverted profits tax regime. The podcast also notes the designation of the first freeport tax sites, mentions planned changes to tax reliefs for R&D and the proposed introduction of a corporate re-domiciliation regime, and it discusses the First-tier Tribunal decision in Europcar concerning the taxpayer’s application to instruct a joint expert in a cross-border group relief case which was opposed by HMRC.

Tax news highlights: October 2021

In this podcast, Zoe Andrews and Tanja Velling discuss the consultation response and draft legislation for the economic crime levy, the High Court decision in Almacantar on the application of estoppel by convention in the context of a notice of claim under a tax indemnity, and the First-tier Tribunal decisions in Shinelock on the interaction between the tax rules and net accounting and Marlborough rejecting a rather wide interpretation of the Supreme Court decision in Rangers argued for by HMRC. Zoe and Tanja also share some thoughts sparked by the press coverage of the Pandora Papers and briefly address the announcement that 136 out of the 140 member countries of the OECD/G20 Inclusive Framework on BEPS have reached agreement on international tax reform.

Tax new highlights: September 2021

In this podcast, Zoe Andrews and Tanja Velling discuss HMRC’s draft guidance in relation to the large business notification of uncertain tax treatment for which draft legislation was published on “L-Day”, and four recent cases:

• the Court of Appeal’s decision in Ingenious Games (a sequel to the Ingenious Films litigation);
• the Court of Session’s decision in the employment-related securities case Vermilion;
• the Upper Tribunal’s decision in Centrica on investment management expenses; and 
• the First-tier Tribunal’s decision in the latest unallowable purpose case, Kwik-Fit.

They also briefly mention the Upper Tribunal’s decision in KSM Henryk Zeman where public law arguments, normally the purview of judicial review, were permitted to be raised in a VAT appeal.