Blog

Freedom of movement of capital applies to charitable gifts to Jersey (at least for now!)

The Supreme Court ("the Court") released on 16 October their judgment in the case of Routier v HMRC. The Court determined that the EU principle preventing restrictions of the free movement of capital applies to gifts of UK assets to charities in Jersey. Accordingly, persons making such gifts are entitled to inheritance tax ("IHT") relief in the same way as they would be if they made such a gift to a UK-based charity.

Can I stop my neighbour letting out his property for Airbnb or other short term lettings?

The answer is yes if any one or more of the following apply:-

Court of Appeal overturns previous judgment, confirming that parties can be forced to engage in certain types of alternative dispute resolution.

The Court of Appeal has overturned the High Court judgment of Mrs Justice Parker in the case of Lomax v Lomax (as commented on by Roberta Harvey and Hannah Mantle on 4 June 2019), confirming that the Court can order Early Neutral Evaluation (ENE) even if the parties do not consent.

Forsters compete in the Wrenbridge World Cup

On 9 August 2019, Forsters travelled to Cambridge to take part in the annual Wrenbridge World Cup, which this year was in aid of Send a Cow, a charity that provides livestock to rural African communities in order to assist with the alleviation of poverty.

Forsters’ Green Impact Group support charity Thames21 in River Lea clean-up

On 17 July, Forsters’ Green Impact Group embraced the sunny weather and headed up a troupe of keen environmentalists travelling east to the River Lea in Hackney.

Private Sector Funding for Cladding Replacement

While funding is already available for the removal and replacement of dangerous cladding on buildings owned by councils and housing associations, the owners and occupiers of private buildings were not originally included in the government's relief plans.

Do nuptial agreements have a role in modern families?

Modern families take many forms. So-called nuclear families (with a husband, wife and two children to whom they are both biologically related) have become gradually less common, with a corresponding increase in the number of people entering into same-sex marriages or civil partnerships, marrying for the second or third time or choosing to remain unmarried.

Proprietary estoppel claims - lessons from recent case law

Promises are often made and later broken. Often there is very little anyone can do about this.  However, in certain circumstances, and specifically in relation to land or property, it may be possible to bring a claim to enforce a broken promise, known as a "proprietary estoppel" claim.

I spent all my years believing you, but I just can't get no relief

Entrepreneurs' relief is a valuable tool for business owners to minimise their tax payable on a disposal of the business or an interest in it. Applying to the first £10m of qualifying capital gains it reduces the rate of CGT to just 10%.

Pre budget 2018 the requirements for claiming the relief were that there was disposal by an individual (or in some cases a trust) of

Business rates savings schemes are proper and lawful

In a Judgment dated 7 March 2019, the Court of Appeal has held that 2 similar schemes designed specifically to avoid the owners of unoccupied properties being liable for business rates are perfectly valid and lawful. Such schemes do not stand to be treated any differently from tax avoidance schemes commonly used to avoid or mitigate any other form of taxation, such as income or corporate or inheritance tax.