Veronica McMahon

1 week ago | taxjournal.com | Heather Self |Chris Etherington |Veronica McMahon

As someone who is approaching State Pension age, the debate over the Winter Fuel Payment (WFP) has had a clear resonance for me. But I fear that we may be ending up in yet another muddled tax policy position. The WFP was introduced in 1997, and was originally £20 (£50 for those on means-tested benefits).

1 week ago | taxjournal.com | Emily Au |Heather Self |Chris Etherington |Veronica McMahon

Q: Why should you never play hide-and-seek with tax litigators? A: Because they’re experts at finding the loopholes and the grey spaces!Readers of Tax Journal may be relieved to know that this joke was not the authors’ original wit but rather generated by AI. Humour may not be its strong suit but AI innovations hold great promise and risk for tax administration and disputes.

1 week ago | taxjournal.com | Chris Etherington |Heather Self |Veronica McMahon

One of the consequences of the Autumn 2024 Budget announcements on IHT is that many families are now considering passing assets on to the next generation sooner than they might have otherwise planned. This will commonly involve parents making gifts to their children, and in many of these scenarios, there are concerns about how to make such gifts whilst maintaining some control over these assets during the parents’ lifetime.

1 week ago | taxjournal.com | Naomi Lawton |Heather Self |Chris Etherington |Veronica McMahon

On 28 April 2025 the UK Government published two documents relating to the reform of its stamp taxes regime: Modernisation of the Stamp Taxes on Shares Framework- Summary of responses (the consultation response document) further to the 2023 consultation on stamp taxes on shares modernisation; and Modernisation of the Stamp Taxes on Shares Framework: 1.5% charge (the consultation on the 1.5% charge).

1 week ago | taxjournal.com | Michael Taylor |Heather Self |Chris Etherington |Veronica McMahon

For almost 20 years Item 4 to Group 2 of VATA 1994 Sch 9 has provided in the following terms for the exemption of: ‘The provision by an insurance broker or insurance agent of any of the services of an insurance intermediary in case in which those services— (a) are related (whether or not a contract of insurance or reinsurance is finally concluded) to an insurance transaction or a reinsurance transaction; and (b) are provided by that broker or agent in the course of his acting in an...