Earlier this spring STEP hosted the Tax, Trusts & Estates Conference at a number of venues around the UK. Speakers included Stephen Lawson TEP, Chris Whitehouse TEP, Caroline Bielanska TEP, Steven Kempster TEP, Professor Lesley King TEP, and Lucy Obrey TEP. Stephen Lawson provided a much needed update on the Inheritance (Provision for Family and… Read More Controversial will? Advise your clients on ‘statements of reason’
Transparency has been in the forefront of many people’s minds since news broke of the leak from Mossack Fonseca in Panama. But those in the know will be aware that the UK government has already taken steps to tackle the issue with the creation of a public register of company beneficial ownership: the PSC (People… Read More The UK PSC Register: what you need to know
STEP members Richard Frimston TEP and Anneke Vrenegoor TEP attended the European Parliament (EP) on 20 April to hear expert presentations on vulnerable adults across Member States (MS) by Dr Ian Curry Summer and Pietro Franzina (see presentations below). The occasion followed continued debate in the EP regarding the difficulty that MS are encountering to… Read More STEP attends European Parliament meeting on vulnerable adults across Member States
HMRC has posted its international automatic exchange guidance on the government website, following another meeting held with STEP and charity advisors: International Exchange of Information Manual. The charity guidance will be posted within a week, the HMRC working group promises. Attendees at the meeting discussed the mechanics of the due diligence process of charities in more… Read More CRS and Charities continued…
On Friday (22 April) HM Treasury announced that a further 19 countries have now joined the UK-led pilot project launched with Germany, France, Italy and Spain for the automatic exchange of information on beneficial ownership. These include the Netherlands; Romania; Sweden; Finland; Slovakia; Latvia; Croatia; Belgium; Ireland; Slovenia; Denmark; Malta; Lithuania; Cyprus; Bulgaria; Portugal; Estonia;… Read More Registers of beneficial ownership – the end game?
The Financial Action Task Force (FATF) Private Sector Consultative Forum in Vienna earlier this week explored measures to combat terrorist financing, writes STEP’s Sean Smith. The first day focused on the risk of terrorist abuse in Non-Profit Organisations – a sector deemed vulnerable because of the resources they use and their geographical spread. On the… Read More Terrorist financing discussed in Vienna
It may not come as a surprise that the new draft UK Finance Bill 2016 has introduced more severe penalties for taxpayers that are found to have fallen out of the General Anti-Abuse Rules (GAAR) remit. A significant change to the rule is the introduction of a new penalty of 60 per cent of the tax… Read More Severe 60 per cent penalty for GAAR schemes
STEP yesterday (14 April) received a letter from Mr Kosie Louw, Chair of the OECD Global Forum on Transparency and Exchange of Information for Tax Purposes, which was sent to all members of the Global Forum. The letter contains the following statement: ‘I want to state that the public release of taxpayer information is… Read More OECD: ‘Public release of taxpayer information is not consistent with the international standards for tax transparency’
Enhance has been involved with STEP’s annual Private Client Awards for six years now, providing the judges with data analysis to give a clear picture of what firms submitting applications for ‘Investment Team of the Year’ have achieved over the last 12 months. Using proprietary fintech software, the analysis reviews investment performance and risk over… Read More PCA Investment Team of the Year Award: what to expect in the judging process
STEP’s Global Congress, coming up in Amsterdam this summer, will be looking into a number of topical issues, including how wealth is being passed on death to the next generations. Wills do not represent the only way in which wealth is being transferred on death. A person can use a variety of other mechanisms, including… Read More Where there’s no will, there’s a way…
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