On 18 October, my colleague Beatriz Brockhurst (STEP News Editor) and I attended the launch of Legacy Giving and Behavioural Insights – a research report which examined how will writers discussed charitable giving with their clients. Bridging the gap The research illustrates the gap between clients expressing an interest in leaving charitable gifts (35 per… Read More Legacy giving: the role of the practitioner
STEP attended a meeting held by HMRC on 11 October to obtain feedback on its plan to make tax returns reportable on a quarterly basis, and completely digital. HMRC’s stated objective is to improve the level of service for the public, reduce the cost to the taxpayer, and increase the revenue’s compliance and accuracy. It… Read More Making Tax Digital update
Update on discussions relating to the treatment of trusts Following the consultation paper issued on 19 August 2016, members of STEP’s UK Technical Committee have been closely involved in discussions with HM Treasury and HM Revenue & Customs in relation to the latest proposals. The most difficult area is the treatment of offshore trusts set… Read More April 2017 changes to the UK’s taxation of long-term resident, non-domiciled individuals
STEP was invited by the European Commission to attend a second private sector consultative meeting on Wednesday 5 October to discuss the supranational risk assessment of money laundering and terrorist financing risk in the EU. We represented the trust sector and legal professionals in the first consultative meeting with the Commission in March 2016. The… Read More STEP in Brussels to discuss money laundering and terrorist financing risks
The England & Wales Office of the Public Guardian (OPG) published an update in September 2015 providing guidance on financial lasting powers of attorney (LPAs) and how attorneys can delegate investment management decisions to a discretionary investment manager. Under this guidance an attorney can appoint a bank or an IFA to act on their behalf to… Read More Invitation to members – LPA discretionary investment clauses
There have been a number of recent press articles about the role of STEP, a leading professional body, in the wealth management industry. Some of these articles have presented a highly distorted view of STEP and the activities of our members. STEP members, known as TEPs, spend their professional lives helping families plan for their… Read More STEP – the reality
The UK’s International Tax Compliance (Client Notification) Regulations have been amended and will come into force on 30 September 2016. The regulations create an obligation on financial institutions (banks, building societies, insurers, fund managers, wealth managers and professionals that offer tax or financial advice or services) to notify their clients about the tax information that… Read More International Tax Compliance (Client Notification) Regulations
STEP’s Charities UK and Philanthropy Advisors Special Interest Groups hosted a seminar on Charities and Brexit on 6 September presented by STEP members Ed Powles TEP and Tom Dumont TEP and chaired by Suzanne Reisman TEP, writes Emily Deane. According to those in the charity sector there was an immediate drop in charitable donations after… Read More How will Brexit affect the third sector?
On 18 August, I attended the latest Charities CRS Working Group meeting, hosted by HMRC. The main issues discussed were as follows: HMRC confirmed that CIOs (charitable incorporated organisations) will be treated in the same way under CRS as other corporate bodies and this will be incorporated into the new guidance. HMRC confirmed that collection of Taxpayer Identification Number… Read More CRS and charities continued…
As part of our ongoing work to ensure the safety and security of our members, STEP is currently working towards becoming fully compliant with the latest Payment Card Industry (PCI) Security Standards. This means that we will be making changes to the way we accept payments and handle sensitive information. What is PCI Compliance? PCI Compliance… Read More STEP and PCI Compliance
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