Helen Buchanan

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Articles

Ramsay reined in?

1 month ago | taxjournal.com | David Whiscombe |Elena Rowlands |Tom Margesson |Helen Buchanan

What do tax lawyers talk about at lunch? In my case, it’s been the UK Supreme Court’s majority decision (4:1) in Royal Bank of Canada [2025] UKSC 2. It seems so unusual these days to have a split Supreme Court decision that it is worth delving deeper into Lord Briggs’ dissent in that case – not least because it’s on the scope of something that has become a fundamental tenet of tax law, the Ramsay principle of statutory construction. What was Lord Briggs’ dissenting judgment about?
HMRC launch e-invoicing consultation

2 months ago | taxjournal.com | Elena Rowlands |Tom Margesson |Helen Buchanan |Jeremy Mindell

HMRC and the Department for Business and Trade (DBT) have jointly launched a 12-week consultation on electronic invoicing which the UK government hopes will reduce paperwork for businesses and enhance productivity. E-invoicing will be particularly relevant to VAT in terms of potentially improving the accuracy of VAT returns and reducing the VAT gap. The consultation closes on 7 May 2025.
Company size thresholds apply for off-payroll working rules

2 months ago | taxjournal.com | Elena Rowlands |Tom Margesson |Helen Buchanan |Jeremy Mindell

The financial thresholds for determining the size of a company under the off-payroll working rules are set to increase from 6 April 2025. The substantive changes to the turnover and balance sheet thresholds were made by SI 2024/1303 to Part 15 of the Companies Act 2006 with corresponding changes to the rules for LLPs – the aim being to provide lighter-touch reporting and audit requirements for more companies.
Arrangements involving pensions ‘contrived’, says GAAR Panel

2 months ago | taxjournal.com | Elena Rowlands |Tom Margesson |Helen Buchanan |Jeremy Mindell

HMRC have published a GAAR Advisory Panel opinion dated 29 October 2024 on further arrangements which sought to use the creation and transfer of pension obligations. In this particular set of circumstances pension benefits were awarded to two directors of a company. Those pension obligations were then transferred from the company to the two directors personally – with each director assuming the pension obligation for the other in return for a sum of money paid by the company to each director.
Salaried members: HMRC reverses position on the TAAR and Condition C

2 months ago | taxjournal.com | Elena Rowlands |Tom Margesson |Helen Buchanan |Jeremy Mindell

HMRC have said they will reverse their approach on the targeted anti-avoidance rule (TAAR) under the salaried members rules (ITTOIA 2005 ss 863A–863G) as announced in February 2024 in which the department said they would apply the TAAR where members made a top-up capital contribution in order to avoid meeting Condition C of the rules.
S Fitzgerald and another v HMRC

2 months ago | taxjournal.com | Elena Rowlands |Tom Margesson |Helen Buchanan |Jeremy Mindell

In S Fitzgerald and another v HMRC [2025] UKFTT 89 (TC) (24 January) the FTT dismissed an appeal against a closure notice disallowing SDLT multiple dwellings relief (MDR) in respect of the purchase of a property which included a main house and an annexe. In 2020 the taxpayers purchased a property consisting of a five-bedroom detached house an annexe garage and car port. The annexe had its own kitchen living room bedroom and bathroom.
Lloyds Asset Leasing Ltd v HMRC

2 months ago | taxjournal.com | Elena Rowlands |Tom Margesson |Helen Buchanan |Jeremy Mindell

In Lloyds Asset Leasing Ltd v HMRC [2025] UKFTT 57 (TC) (20 January) the First-tier Tribunal (FTT) dismissedthe taxpayer’s appeal against HMRC’s disallowance of its cross-border group relief (CBGR) claim. The appellant Lloyds Asset Leasing Ltd (LAL) was one of 100 subsidiaries of Lloyds Banking Group (LBG) that claimed CBGR in respect of losses incurred by Bank of Scotland Ireland Ltd (BOSI).
Sarabande v HMRC

2 months ago | taxjournal.com | Elena Rowlands |Tom Margesson |Helen Buchanan |Jeremy Mindell

In Sarabande v HMRC [2025] UKFTT 93 (TC) (30 January) the FTT decided that Sarabande (‘SB’) did not make an exempt supply of land to its subsidiary and therefore HMRC’s denial of input tax incurred on acquiring and refurbishing a property was invalid. SB is registered charity and the owner of a long leasehold in a property in central London. Suture Inc Ltd (‘SIL’) is a wholly owned subsidiary of SB and not registered for VAT.
JVs and the top-up taxes: does HMRC’s draft guidance bring clarity?

2 months ago | taxjournal.com | Helen Buchanan |David Whiscombe

HMRC have published supplementary draft guidance on the Multinational Top-up Tax (MTT) and Domestic Top-up Tax (DTT) covering, among other things, joint ventures (JVs). Initial draft guidance in relation to the UK’s implementation of the OECD’s global minimum tax was published in June 2023 which was then updated in December 2023 and again in September 2024. However, the guidance (until this version) had remained silent on the applicability of the rules to JV groups.
UK suspends Russia and Belarus Double Tax Treaties

2 months ago | taxjournal.com | Helen Buchanan |Jeremy Mindell |David Whiscombe

The UK is suspending the Russia and Belarus Double Tax Treaties from April 2025. Both countries had previously suspended material provisions of their Double Taxation Conventions with the UK and have not responded to the UK request to come back into compliance with their international legal obligations. Therefore the UK will revoke the legislation which gives effect to the Conventions in UK law.