A look at the most read stories on eprivateclient this week...
Monday
UK law firm Burges Salmon appointed five new partners, all of whom trained at the firm, across teams including private wealth, real estate, dispute resolution, pensions and projects. The firm said that the promotions formed part of its strategy for growth across a number of key areas including real estate, private wealth, dispute resolution, pensions, and transport. Click here to see who firm’s 2024 partner promotions include.
Clare Reddy, a construction partner in UK law firm Farrer & Co’s commercial property practice, was appointed as a member of the British Property Federation’s (BPF) development committee. This appointment followed Ms Reddy’s arrival at Farrer & Co in September 2023, which has seen her knowledge of construction law further strengthen the firm’s existing construction practice, and its offering in areas including regeneration, mixed use development, and the refurbishment and fitting out of commercial property.
Tuesday
London law firm Hunters hired Alex Brereton as a partner in its family law team. Mr Brereton - who was named as an eprivateclient Top 35 Under 35 in 2022 - has joined Hunters from Mishcon de Reya where he has spent the last decade. He joined Mishcon in 2014 to train as a solicitor before becoming an associate in 2016 and was promoted to managing associate in April 2023. During his time at Mishcon de Reya he was involved in some of its biggest family law cases.
Colombian pop singer Shakira recently became the focus of the Spanish tax authorities in a tax fraud case with a maximum penalty of €23.7 million and up to eight years in prison, wrote Phineas Hirsch, senior associate and Dan Wren, associate, Withers. The case demonstrates the key tax risks for internationally mobile ultra-high net worth individuals who might consider themselves 'nomads' for tax purposes. In the case, Spanish prosecutors argued Shakira had been a tax resident in Spain between 2012 and 2014, while visiting her then-boyfriend and former Barcelona player Gerard Piqué.
Wednesday
Less than eight cents in every dollar raised in tax revenue in G20 countries now comes from taxes on wealth, analysis by Oxfam claimed. The data comes ahead of the first meeting of G20 Finance Ministers and Central Bank Governors in Sao Paulo, Brazil. By comparison, more than 32 cents in every dollar - over four times as much - is collected from taxes on goods and services. Taxes on food and other necessities, for example, shift more of the tax burden onto lower-income families, the charity said.
Offshore law firm Carey Olsen promoted four Cayman Islands corporate lawyers to the partnership: Chris Duncan, Trevor McCabe, Jenna Willis and Dylan Wiltermuth. The four promotions bring the total number of partners across the Carey Olsen group to 78. Mr Duncan, a 2019 eprivateclient Top 35 Under 35, leads Carey Olsen's fintech and digital assets teams across the Cayman Islands and the British Virgin Islands, having joined the firm in 2019.
Thursday
UK Chancellor Jeremy Hunt is considering scrapping the UK’s non-dom tax rules in next week’s Budget, according to reports. Despite criticising the Labour Party for proposing such a move, Mr Hunt is understood to be mulling over the idea after OBR estimates left the UK government with less headroom for tax cuts or spending promises. According to Labour, scrapping the non-dom regime could bring in over £3 billion in revenue although the opposition party has revised this down to around £2 billion recently. [Read more]
KPMG in the Crown Dependencies hired Hamish Crake as a tax director in Jersey. He has joined the firm after nine years with Deloitte in its tax division, playing a role in the development of its operational tax service offering, before joining the KPMG team. Prior to starting his career at Deloitte, Mr Crake studied Mechanical Engineering at the University of Edinburgh. Mr Crake is passionate about tax transparency, with a particular focus on automatic exchange of information (AEOI) matters including FATCA and the CRS.
Friday
A complex tax avoidance scheme that moves income offshore has been exposed by HMRC, with anyone who has joined the arrangement warned to get out of it as soon as possible. The scheme – linked to businessman Darren Patrick-Green – involves contractors joining Singapore-registered Procorre LLP to avoid paying Income Tax and National Insurance. [Read more]
There were 6,879 civil partnerships formed in England and Wales in 2022, an increase of 2.2 percent from 2021, according to the latest figures from the Office of National Statistics (ONS). Of all civil partnerships formed in 2022, most (83.7 percent) were opposite-sex couples (5,760), with same-sex couples accounting for 16.3 percent (1,119); 58.2 percent of same-sex formations were male couples and 41.8 percent were female couples. [Read more]