Insights: Legal Updates - February 2017

Michael McCartney, a partner in Fladgate’s employment team, comments on a recent case that has significant repercussions for employers. In the recent case of Marathon Asset Management LLP v Seddon and Bridgeman the High Court considered the appropriate level of award to make to an investment management business which claimed that two of its senior […]

Offshore companies holding UK residential property will no longer be opaque for UK Inheritance Tax (IHT) purposes from 6 April 2017.  The change is being achieved, courtesy of the Finance Bill 2017 as currently drafted, by removing IHT ‘excluded property’ status from an interest in a closely held company (see the 15 December 2016 article ‘UK […]

Die Bekämpfung der modernen Sklaverei ist ein vordringliches Thema in Zeiten globalisierten Handels und internationaler Lieferketten.   Dies spiegelt sich wider in Maßnahmen sowohl von Gesetzgebern als auch von Unternehmen, die ihre „corporate social responsibility“, also unternehmerische Gesellschaftsverantwortung, ernst nehmen.   Immer häufiger verlangen Unternehmen, die Lieferkette ihrer Zulieferer ebenso offen gelegt zu bekommen, wie die Maßnahmen, […]

The contents of European treaties do not generally achieve public notoriety. But – after acrimonious parliamentary debates, Supreme Court challenges and yards of press coverage – everyone has now heard of Article 50 of the Lisbon Treaty. As part of a deal to secure Parliamentary approval to trigger the EU withdrawal process under Article 50, […]

Recent changes have been announced to the Immigration Act 2016 (which came into effect from 1 December 2016), which have “upgraded” the failure to meet Right to Rent requirements to a criminal offence including a jail term of up to five years. Right to Rent was a scheme introduced across England on 1 February 2016. […]

Stepping down relevant clauses to subcontractors is rarely quick and easy when done properly – but it’s worth taking the time to do so. Let’s take a familiar scenario: an employer engages a contractor to carry out works, but the finished works are already subject to agreements for lease between the employer and future tenants […]

In the second part of their article on the inheritance tax residence nil-rate band, John Woolley and Helena Luckhurst consider the downsizing relief. In ‘Property pinball’ (Taxation, 26 January 2017) we looked at the main provisions of the inheritance tax residence nil-rate band (RNRB), which will apply from 6 April 2017. As mentioned, advisers dealing with […]

To date, UK resident non-doms may not have been greatly impacted by the UK tax system’s plethora of measures to try to get the foreign income and gains received by offshore trusts (i.e. trusts that are not UK tax resident) taxed in the UK.  This is because one of the key anti-avoidance provisions, the ‘S.86 […]

A special inheritance tax relief, the residential nil-rate band, is fast approaching. John Woolley and Helena Luckhurst consider pitfalls and opportunities. The inheritance tax residence nil-rate band (RNRB) becomes available from 6 April 2017. Those advising on estate planning or drafting wills will need to be conversant with this new tax relief. Otherwise there will […]

It is sometimes the case that a tenant will enter into agreements for lease where the landlord is undertaking substantial works to, or even constructing, the building or estate within which the premises will be located so that grant of the lease is conditional upon completion of those works. Liquidated and ascertained damages (LADs) clauses […]

In August 2016, Sports Direct admitted breaking the law by failing to pay the National Minimum Wage (NMW) following pressure from the media and a widely publicised and damning report by the Business, Innovations and Skills (BIS) Select Committee last Summer.  The CEO resigned, followed by the CFO, and the company group share price dropped […]

With gender pay gap reporting obligations almost upon us, the Government Equalities Office and ACAS this week published their draft guidance (Guidance). The Guidance is a step-by-step guide for employers on the types of data they need to publish and how they should calculate gender pay gaps prior to publication. The first snapshot date is […]