With the new year just round the corner, it seems time to reflect on what’s been happening at STEP in recent months. STEP’s global Branch Chairs’ Assembly took place in London late last month, and was extremely well-attended. Its main focus was to ensure members feel they have an effective voice in developing STEP’s membership… Read More What’s happening at STEP in England and Wales
The end of November saw STEP Special Interest Groups’ (SIGs’) annual day of conferences, the ‘Spotlight Sessions’, held at the Montcalm Hotel in London and attracting over 300 international delegates. The day started early with a breakfast-time Philanthropy Advisors SIG session. Outgoing chair Suzanne Reisman TEP welcomed attendees and contributed to a panel discussion, which… Read More STEP’s Special Interest Groups under the spotlight
Three years ago, the UK government’s Autumn Statement 2014 announced a review of the Gift Aid donor benefit rules with the intention of simplifying them. Following a call for evidence, it launched a consultation on 18 February 2016 setting out a range of options. The responses helped develop specific proposals for reform, which were set… Read More The UK Budget and donor benefit rules for charities
Update: 19 October HMRC has asked us to disseminate the following: ‘The new TRS is now available for agents to use. As part of this online process, agents will be taken through the steps to create an Agent Services account before they can register on behalf of trustees. Agents use the link from http://www.gov.uk/trusts-taxes/trustees-tax-responsibilities to… Read More Update: TRS now open to agents
A sell-out audience of over 370 delegates has been attending the 2017 STEP LatAm Conference in Cartagena, Colombia this week. The fact that they managed to get here in spite of a local transport strike made me feel, as a Brit, rather at home, but it also shows what a strong following the annual STEP… Read More STEP LatAm Conference 2017 in Colombia
It is a pleasure to be writing to you for the first time as Chair of STEP’s England & Wales Regional Committee to let you know about the work we are doing on behalf of members in the region. We’ve been performing well, with 93% of member renewals for 2017 received and 350 new members… Read More STEP England & Wales Biannual Statement July 2017
I had the pleasure of attending STEP Jersey’s AGM and 25th anniversary celebration this week. STEP Jersey is one of our largest branches, with over 1200 members, and is also one of our most active. Not only does it host many well-attended events, but it works closely with government, regulators and others to ensure the… Read More Happy 25th birthday STEP Jersey!
These days, the world seems to be changing faster than it spins on its axis. While the headlines darken each morning with geo-political and economic tumult, the sense of unease continues reading beyond the front pages. A bleak outlook for the workplace: robots will take over, professions will be rendered obsolete by new technology; a… Read More Embracing a new skills agenda
I have just enjoyed a highly informative STEP Caribbean Conference in Cayman from May 1-3, which attracted well over 300 delegates from across the STEP world. Presentations ranged from the emerging theme of cryptocurrencies, which I suspect is a wholly new topic to many in the audience, to the use of firewall provisions in fending… Read More STEP Caribbean Conference, Cayman
Following the news late last week that the UK government is scrapping its plans to hike probate fees, Emily Deane TEP looks back on an eventful 15 months for STEP and practitioners. February 2016 In February 2016 the Ministry of Justice (MoJ) issued a consultation paper on reforms to the fee system for grants of… Read More Probate fees: how we got to where we are
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