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If your business is struggling to meet VAT and other tax payments on time, take advice quickly. The decision by the Government to restore 'Crown preference' regarding debts due to the Exchequer from April 2020 could impact negatively on you. Leaving aside...

Recently, Santander was fined more than £30 million for failing to distribute more than £180 million held in deceased customers' accounts to their personal representatives or entitled beneficiaries. More than 40,000 account holders were involved...

When an 18-year-old woman bought a derelict end terrace property in London in 2006 and sold it to developers the following year, she made no entry on her tax return, believing that principal private residence relief applied. Having made a 'discovery' of the...

When a construction dispute arises and a pay less notice is issued, the Housing Grants, Construction and Regeneration Act 1996 requires that the notice should specify the sum considered to be due and the basis on which that sum is calculated. In a recent...

Many wills contain clauses which alter the distribution of assets in the event of changing circumstances, such as the death of one of the beneficiaries under the will before the person making it. When drafting such clauses, it is essential that they are...

UK and EU trade marks are a highly effective means of protecting your brand – but they are subject to territorial limits. The High Court made that point in ruling that it had no power to entertain infringement proceedings brought by British airline...

If you have a legitimate legal complaint, any delay in consulting a solicitor is highly likely to benefit the wrongdoer. A man whose home was taken from him by fraud, but who delayed over 20 years before taking legal action, found that out to his cost. The...

The High Court has dismissed a claim by the Independent Workers' Union of Great Britain (IWGB) seeking to overturn a decision of the Central Arbitration Committee (CAC) that Deliveroo riders are self-employed, not workers within the meaning of Section 296(1)...

The Government has taken steps to halt the 'Tier 1 Investor' visa scheme after it became clear that it was being used to launder the proceeds of criminal activity and tax evasion. The scheme allowed wealthy individuals to enter the UK and obtain indefinite...

The law relating to the division of family assets on divorce varies widely across the world and the UK is generally regarded as one of the fairer jurisdictions for such financial arrangements in that the assets tend to be divided more equally than in many...

Is compensation paid to individuals whose businesses have failed due to mis-selling of financial products subject to Income Tax? In a decision that will disappoint many victims of bank wrongdoing, the First-tier Tribunal (FTT) has answered that question in...

Can a building which incorporates parts of structures previously on the same site be described as 'new'? In upholding an enforcement notice that required total demolition of three residential buildings, constructed in breach of planning control, the Court...

Inheritance Tax (IHT) is not only payable on the value of the estate of a deceased person, but can also be levied on 'transfers of value' from the deceased's estate in the seven (exceptionally 14) years prior to their death. But what counts as a transfer of...

One of the more interesting aspects of the new Technology Strategy document published by the Information Commissioner's Office (ICO) is that it specifically identifies Artificial Intelligence as a data protection risk to individuals and concludes that it...

There is a widespread belief that every UK company director has to file a tax return. Indeed, the Government's own website suggests that being a company director alone means you should register for self-assessment and file a tax return annually. However,...

You might think that where the boundaries of property lie should be clear, but boundary disputes are a fruitful source of argument in the courts. A recent case arose when, between contracts being exchanged on a property and the completion of its purchase, a...

It is a mark of a civilised society that anyone who suffers a wrong at the hands of state authorities is entitled to compensation. In a case on point, a prisoner whose release was considerably delayed when the Parole Board was stricken by staff shortages ...

In a landmark judgment, the Court of Appeal has confirmed that individual managers can be held personally liable for dismissal in whistleblowing claims ( Timis and Another v Osipov and Another ). The case concerned the former CEO of an oil exploration...

The Financial Ombudsman Service (FOS) exists to deal with complaints between financial service businesses (such as banks, insurance brokers, and loan and mortgage providers) and their customers – some of which are also businesses. Access to the FOS is...

The distinction between tenancies and licences to occupy premises is crucial but not always easy to draw. A High Court case where this proved central concerned an agreement by which a security company allowed a man to occupy a vacant office block in order...