Update 23 March: HMRC has updated its guidance to clarify that if a penalty is payable for late registration, it will be the burden of the lead trustee and not the agent. We received the following communication from HMRC on 5 March 2018: ‘On 8 December 2017, HMRC announced that while the 31 January 2018… Read More HMRC announces trustees, NOT agents, will be liable for penalties
STEP was pleased to attend the latest Today’s Thought Focus Roundtable, hosted by Today’s Wills & Probate on 15 November 2017. Prof Nick Hopkins and Spencer Clarke from the England & Wales Law Commission attended, and gave participants the opportunity to discuss its latest wills consultation. The consultation paper contains 14 chapters and 64 questions,… Read More STEP joins industry roundtable for Law Commission Q&A on wills
In June 2017 the European Commission published draft legislation containing new rules for tax-planning intermediaries who design or promote cross-border tax planning arrangements. The stated objective is to identify and assess schemes that are potentially facilitating tax evasion or avoidance in order to block harmful arrangements in the early stages. The proposals require intermediaries to report… Read More Proposed EU rules for tax planning intermediaries
Earlier this week STEP held the second of three consultation events on the reform of the law of wills in England and Wales. Law Commission representatives Dr Nick Hopkins and Spencer Clarke invited feedback from STEP members in England and Wales on key areas of the consultation including, capacity, statutory wills, formalities, electronic will-making, protecting… Read More STEP members input into reform of the law of wills
The Global Legal Entity Identification Foundation (GLEIF) has designed a system whereby every ‘legal entity’ will need to register and obtain a unique identification number – a Legal Entity Identifier (LEI) when new European legislation, the Markets in Financial Instruments Directive (MiFID II) and Regulation (MiFIR) takes effect in the UK. If the entity does… Read More Trustees, have you got your LEIs?
The Law Commission of England and Wales is holding a public consultation on reform of the law of wills. The current law, largely derived from the Wills Act 1837, is understandably antiquated and requires an overhaul. The Commission notes that 40 per cent of people in England and Wales die without leaving a valid will,… Read More Will-writing reforms proposed
STEP advised members earlier this year that the Criminal Finances Act 2017 received Royal Assent on 27 April 2017. The Act contains the new corporate criminal offence of ‘failure to prevent the facilitation of tax evasion’, which is anticipated to take effect in September 2017. Even though tax evasion and facilitation of tax-related crimes are… Read More Are you prepared for the UK’s new corporate criminal offence?
With reporting now underway in the UK for both FATCA and the Common Reporting Standard (CRS), STEP has been liaising with HMRC on some of the finer points of reporting. Can I still submit CRS amendments? There is some time available following the 31 May 2017 deadline for submission of amendments or corrections. If you… Read More Information exchange reporting FAQs
STEP attended the most recent CRS Business Advisory Group hosted by HMRC and discussed the following issues: FAQs HMRC advised that new documents on the OECD portal have been published along with some additional FAQs. Anti-avoidance Members were interested to know when the OECD will publish its loophole paper which will review loophole reporting strategies.… Read More CRS reporting update, June 2017
On 21 March 2017, the first political trilogue on the Commission proposals to amend the 4th Anti-Money Laundering Directive (4AMLD), proposed in July 2016, on the prevention of the use of the financial system for the purposes of money laundering or terrorist financing took place at the European Parliament (EP). In the wake of the… Read More EU AMLD: where are we now?
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