Case Law Developments

A judge has ruled in favour of a family making tax exempt gifts on behalf of their brother who has been in a coma for over 10 years

Ingenious Media has lost an appeal against a ruling that outlawed its tax avoidance scheme, leaving sports stars, TV presenters, actors and business leaders having to pay HM Revenue & Customers a total £500 million

Complex case sets standards on behaviour for executors and administrators

Following a number of high profile IR35 court rulings, the government has announced changes to the off-payroll working rule changes from April 2020.

The former head of private client at Kingsley Napley, Matthew Duncan, has been fine £15,000 for mistakenly allowing the transfer of over £1.5 million from a deceased person’s estate to his client

HMRC has seized £1.5 million in cash and arrested 13 people in June during a UK-wide operation targeting suspected money laundering.

Group Seven Limited & Ors v Notable Services LLP & Ors provides a rare example of an appellate court overturning a judge’s findings of fact. In this case, the English Court of Appeal unanimously overturned a trial judge’s verdict that an accountant was not liable for dishonest assistance in a breach of trust, regarding his role in a money laundering scheme.

Greater clarity on employment status to reflect modern working patterns is “badly needed”, argued tax judges in the First Tier Tribunal.

Advisers always warn about the importance of having an official Will, but the message often gets lost, with recent research from Collyer Bristow claiming 68 percent of UK adults earning over £50,000 don’t have a valid Will.

The law of succession is founded upon property passing from the deceased to a survivor. The recent, sad case of John and Ann Scarle illustrates the problems that can arise when two or more people with mutual entitlements to each others’ estates die together, but in unknown order, explains Seddons' John Melville-Smith