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’
I can’t quite believe that my three-year term as Chair of STEP’s UK Practice Committee has reached its end! I was extremely honoured to have held the position, which opened my eyes to the great lengths that STEP members will voluntarily go through to assist fellow TEPs and share their breadth of knowledge. Guidance notes,… Read More Time flies when you’re having fun!
STEP expert speakers attended the European Parliamentary Hearing titled ‘The protection of vulnerable adults: a cross border perspective’ on 14 March in Brussels. The Hearing was focused on the issue of protecting vulnerable adults across Member States (MS). Each MS has its own legal system in place in order to safeguard its senior citizens, however,… Read More STEP experts at European Parliamentary Hearing on protection of vulnerable adults
As many of you will have seen reported in the STEP UK News Digest and elsewhere, the Ministry of Justice recently issued a consultation paper with its proposals to reform application fees for grants of probate in England and Wales (see news story). While STEP supports the Ministry of Justice’s proposal to modernise the courts… Read More Probate application fees: our concerns
The UK government will be making significant changes to both dividend tax relief and entrepreneurs’ relief effective from 6 April 2016. These changes were outlined by Robert Jamieson TEP at a STEP seminar in London on 22 February. Dividend tax relief The dividend tax credit will be replaced with a new tax-free dividend allowance of… Read More Tax changes your clients may need to know by 6 April
STEP attended a meeting held by HMRC yesterday (3 March 2016) to obtain feedback from tax related governing bodies regarding its imminent – and mandatory – proposals to make tax returns completely digital. We were informed that the objective is to modernise the tax system, improve the level of service for the public and reduce… Read More HMRC’s digital tax plans under fire
STEP’s Global Congress, coming up in Amsterdam this summer, will be looking into a number of important and controversial issues, not least in the panel session I’m chairing on the second day. Joining me will be the Rt Hon Clare Short, Chair of the Extractive Industries Transparency Initiative, Jeremy Carver CBE of Transparency International and… Read More Are all countries ready for automatic information exchange?
Significant tax changes are on the way for anyone buying a second home or a buy-to-let property in England & Wales. The Scottish and Northern Irish Governments have also unanimously backed the changes, which will come into effect from 1 April 2016. Robert Jamieson TEP explained the new changes in a STEP seminar for tax… Read More UK buy-to-let tax and SDLT changes
The Office of the Public Guardian in England and Wales published a practice note on 15 February 2016 (below) clarifying how solicitor deputies should manage deputyship funds. Whilst the information is widely understood as best practice, it is a helpful reminder regarding the administration and management of deputyship accounts. The law states that all deputies… Read More The OPG: How solicitor deputies should manage deputyship accounts
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