A look at the most read stories on eprivateclient this week…
Monday
Proposed widespread changes to Capital Gains Tax (CGT) that could see the tax doubled as well as some reliefs abolished is likely to drive the gifting of assets, UK accountants Hillier Hopkins suggested. With clients concerned about asset protection and wanting to delay outright gifts the firm said it expected to see a renewed interest in settlor life interest trusts as individuals look to cap CGT liabilities.
The New York State Attorney General filed a lawsuit against Sotheby alleging that the auction house facilitated the creation and use of fraudulent New York resale certificates for a client’s art purchases.
Private client and fund services provider JTC was promoted from the FTSE SmallCap Index to the FTSE 250 Index on the London Stock Exchange. This is due to the firm’s growth and performance since its Initial Public Offering (IPO) in March 2018.
UK law firm Collyer Bristow urged the UK government to extend the stamp duty holiday beyond 31 March 2021 to allow properties that have exchanged, but are yet to complete, to qualify.
Wednesday
UK divorce numbers saw the biggest spike since 1972 and hit the highest number since 2014. According to Office of National Statistics (ONS) data the number of divorces was up 18.4 percent in 2019, to 107,599.
Gary Ashford, a tax partner at law firm Harbottle & Lewis, was appointed to serve as the new vice president for the Chartered Institute of Taxation (CIOT). Mr Ashford is a long-standing council member of the CIOT. Prior to his role on the council he was previously chairman of the CIOT management of taxes subcommittee.
Thursday
HMRC has sent out letters to overseas individuals living and working in the UK to establish whether they are resident in the country and should be paying tax to HMRC, tax and advisory firm Blick Rothenberg has warned.
Paris, Hong Kong and Zurich are the most expensive cities in the world, according to research by The Economist Intelligence Unit (EIU) which compared the prices of nearly 140 products and services in 133 cities around the world. Singapore took fourth place, while Osaka and Tel Aviv shared fifth place. Rounding out the top 10 were New York, Geneva, Los Angeles and Copenhagen.
Friday
Crestbridge announced that Dean Hodcroft, chief financial officer and a founding partner of Cale Street Partners and formerly head of real estate at EY in London, will join the firm in April 2021 and will succeed Graeme McArthur as the group's chief executive officer with effect from 1 July 2021.
Proposed increases to capital gains tax suggested by the Office for Tax Simplification in early November are likely to hit divorcing couples hard, UK law firm Royds Withy King warned.
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