Tax and the City review for October 2019

The latest corporation tax statistics show that the finance and insurance sector was the largest single contributor to corporation tax in 2017/18, thanks in part to the bank surcharge, the loss restriction rules and increased profits, although receipts from the sector dropped 15% in 2018/19. In Potter, the FTT considers the trading company test is satisfied for the purposes of entrepreneurs’ relief despite gaps in trading and the lack of documentary evidence of the company’s trading activities. The General Court publishes its judgments in the Fiat and Starbucks cases confirming that the Commission may use the arm’s length principle to check that intra-group transactions endorsed by the relevant transfer pricing ruling correspond to prices that would have been negotiated under market conditions. HMRC publishes guidance in the Corporate Finance Manual on the hybrid capital instrument rules.