Government’s ‘draconian’ pension reforms have backfired, experts warn, as OBR says changes will cost billions – Daily Telegraph

Posted October 12th, 2016 in news, pensions, reports, taxation by tracey

‘George Osborne’s pension reforms will backfire and end up costing the taxpayer billions of pounds more every year as people stop saving for their retirement, the official Treasury watchdog has warned.’

Full story

Daily Telegraph, 11th October 2016

Source: www.telegraph.co.uk

Cherie Booth: Challenge to buy-to-let tax ‘not over yet’ despite judicial review failure – Daily Telegraph

Posted October 7th, 2016 in interest, judicial review, mortgages, news, taxation by tracey

‘Campaigners led by Cherie Booth QC said that they would continue their fight against the changes to taxation of buy-to-let income after their application to launch a judicial review of the new law was turned down.’

Full story

Daily Telegraph, 7th October 2016

Source: www.telegraph.co.uk

Cherie Booth to represent landlords fighting changes to tax regime – The Guardian

Posted October 5th, 2016 in barristers, landlord & tenant, news, taxation by sally

‘Cherie Booth QC, who with her husband – Tony Blair – and three children owns at least 10 houses and 27 flats, is to represent landlords fighting proposed changes to the tax regime at the high court in London on Thursday.’

Full story

The Guardian, 4th October 2016

Source: www.guardian.co.uk

New Act – legislation.gov.uk

Posted September 19th, 2016 in legislation, tax avoidance, tax evasion, taxation by tracey

Finance Act 2016

Source: www.legislation.gov.uk

Wales moves to replace stamp duty with new land transaction tax – The Guardian

Posted September 12th, 2016 in bills, news, stamp duty, taxation, Wales by sally

‘The first new Welsh tax for almost 800 years is to be outlined in a bill expected to be introduced on Monday.’

Full story

The Guardian, 12th September 2016

Source: www.guardian.co.uk

Stamp duty aftershock triggers rollercoaster ride for conveyancers ahead of Brexit vote – Legal Futures

Posted August 25th, 2016 in conveyancing, news, stamp duty, taxation by sally

‘Conveyancing activity in Q2 followed a rollercoaster journey with transactions jumping by almost a quarter (24%) year-on-year – up from 230,430 to 286,425 – as completions were registered following the rush to beat the Stamp Duty Land Tax (SDLT) changes for buy-to-let properties and second homes on 1 April 2016, according to the latest edition of the Conveyancing Market Tracker from Search Acumen, the search provider.’

Full story

Legal Futures, 25th August 2016

Source: www.legalfutures.co.uk

‘More than half’ of taxpayer challenges to HMRC decisions successful – OUT-LAW.com

‘More than half of the challenges brought by taxpayers against HM Revenue and Customs (HMRC) decisions last year were successful, according to figures obtained by Pinsent Masons, the law firm behind Out-Law.com.’

Full story

OUT-LAW.com, 23rd August 2016

Source: www.out-law.com

Childhood obesity: UK’s ‘inexcusable’ strategy is wasted opportunity, say experts – The Guardian

Posted August 18th, 2016 in advertising, children, food, health, news, taxation by tracey

‘Medical experts and campaigners have criticised the government’s childhood obesity strategy as weak and embarrassing, and accused policymakers of throwing away the best chance to tackle the culture of unhealthy eating that is crippling the NHS. The government’s measures, centred on the sugar tax announced by George Osborne in March, rely on voluntary action by the food and drink industry and are shorn of any restrictions on junk food marketing and advertising.’

Full story

The Guardian, 18th August 2016

Source: www.guardian.co.uk

Harry Potter actor Rupert Grint loses £1m tax refund case – The Guardian

Posted August 10th, 2016 in appeals, HM Revenue & Customs, income tax, news, taxation by tracey

‘Harry Potter star Rupert Grint has lost his legal battle for a £1m tax refund. A tax tribunal judge rejected the actor’s appeal against an HM Revenue and Customs block on him using a change in accounting dates to shield his earnings from the higher 50% tax rate.’

Full story

The Guardian, 9th August 2016

Source: www.guardian.co.uk

Stamp Duty Land Tax – Tanfield Chambers

Posted July 12th, 2016 in enfranchisement, housing, leases, news, stamp duty, taxation by sally

‘Does the 3% second home surcharge apply to statutory lease extensions and enfranchisement under the 1993 and 1967 Acts?’

Full story

Tanfield Chambers, 6th June 2016

Source: www.tanfieldchambers.co.uk

Four sentenced to a total of 29 years for £98 million tax fraud scheme – Crown Prosecution Service

Posted June 30th, 2016 in conspiracy, fraud, press releases, sentencing, taxation by tracey

‘Four men have been sentenced to a total of 29 years imprisonment for their role in an elaborate tax fraud involving the funding of UK film productions. The defendants dishonestly claimed losses had been made so that income tax could be falsely claimed back from HM Revenue and Customs.’

Full press release

Crown Prosecution Service, 24th June 2016

Source: www.cps.gov.uk

Government austerity policy a breach of international human rights, says UN report- The Independent

Posted June 30th, 2016 in human rights, immigration, news, reports, taxation, United Nations by tracey

‘The British Government’s austerity policies are a breach of international human rights, a new report by the UN has warned.’

Full story

The Independent, 29th June 2016

Source: www.independent.co.uk

How the other half live – Nearly Legal

Posted May 16th, 2016 in costs, news, taxation, tribunals by sally

‘Eclipse Film Partners v HMRC [2016] UKSC 24 has almost nothing to do with housing law. It was an appeal from the First Tier Tribunal (Tax Chamber), via the UT (TCC) and the CA. It wasn’t even about the substantive issues in the case, rather, it was about who should pay for the costs of the bundles (which cost over £215,000 to produce – more than 700 files in the trial bundle!).’

Full story

Nearly Legal, 12th May 2016

Source: www.nearlylegal.co.uk

Pension changes deter would-be judges, says lord chief justice – The Guardian

Posted April 28th, 2016 in judiciary, news, pensions, select committees, taxation by tracey

‘George Osborne’s decision to impose a £10,000 tax-free cap on pension contributions is deterring well-paid lawyers from becoming judges, the lord chief justice has said.’

Full story

The Guardian, 27th April 2016

Source: www.guardian.co.uk

Regulator widens inquiry into UK firms’ links with Panama Papers tax havens – The Guardian

‘The City regulator has widened its inquiries into potential links between UK financial firms and the law company at the centre of the Panama Papers revelations, it said on Tuesday.’

Full story

The Guardian, 26th April 2016

Source: www.guardian.co.uk

Legal aid costs tax-payer less than a cup of coffee a week, reckons Bar Council – Legal Voice

Posted April 13th, 2016 in barristers, budgets, legal aid, news, taxation by sally

‘British justice costs the tax-payer less than €2 per week or ‘the price of one cup of coffee’, claimed the chairman of the Bar Council giving evidence to Labour’s legal aid commission. Chantal-Aimée Doerries took issue with the government’s oft-repeated assertion that the UK’s expenditure on legal aid per capita was ‘more generous than any other EU nation or comparable common law jurisdiction’. ‘Every justice system has different cost drivers and looking simply at legal aid in isolation we would suggest is unhelpful,’ she told the commission. ‘

Full story

Legal Voice, 12th April 2016

Source: www.legalvoice.org.uk

Do you know the difference between tax evasion and tax avoidance? Take our quiz – The Independent

Posted April 13th, 2016 in news, tax avoidance, tax evasion, taxation by sally

‘Most of us have little choice about how we pay our tax. It simply comes out of our pay packets.

We don’t have a choice to evade or avoid tax even if we wanted to. Or do we?’
Full story

The Independent, 13th April 2016

Source: www.independent.co.uk

Inheritance tax: a brief history of death duties – The Guardian

Posted April 12th, 2016 in housing, inheritance tax, news, succession, taxation by sally

‘Modern inheritance tax dates back to 1894 when the government introduced estate duty, a tax on the capital value of land, in a bid to raise money to pay off a £4m government deficit.’

Full story

The Guardian, 10th April 2016

Source: www.guardian.co.uk

Inheritance tax should be scrapped – it’s unpopular and barely raises any money

Posted April 12th, 2016 in inheritance tax, news, tax avoidance, tax evasion, taxation by sally

‘Inheritance tax is a losing issue for the left and the right, despite raising a mere quarter of 1 per cent of GDP.’

Full story

The Independent, 11th April 2016

Source: www.independent.co.uk

National Crime Agency demands quicker access to offshore firm records – The Guardian

‘The UK crime agency is demanding quicker access to the corporate records of secretive offshore companies in Britain’s overseas territories including the British Virgin Islands, Bermuda and the Cayman Islands.’

Full story

The Guardian, 10th April 2016

Source: www.guardian.co.uk