ANTI AVOIDANCE

The recent changes to the Employee Ownership Trust rules bring the regime back to its intended purpose – and may impact many valuations, writes Ritchie Tout (Azets).

Malcolm Gammie CBE KC (One Essex Court) examines recent Government proposals which, he says, leave little doubt that tax avoidance, like tax evasion, is to be regarded as a criminal activity.

Just as we contemplate the demise of the remittance basis, Oliver Marre (5 Stone Buildings) examines the first Upper Tribunal decision on a key provision on those rules.

The obvious conclusion from the Upper Tribunal decision is that every standalone company should form a dormant subsidiary, writes Robert Langston (Saffery Champness), but there are anti-avoidance rules to consider.

Following a raft of recent case law, HMRC’s has revised its guidance on the unallowable purpose rules. Helen Buchanan and Sarah Bond (Freshfields Bruckhaus Deringer) consider what it says about HMRC’s approach to purpose-based enquiries and the situations which HMRC would normally regard as involving a tax avoidance purpose.

The APPG on responsible tax proposes criminally prosecuting tax advisers for avoidance planning. Craig Kirkham-Wilson (Simmons & Simmons) explains why the report is based on some misguided assumptions.