Anti-avoidance: Tax

This note discusses the situations in which taxpayers can enter into advance pricing agreements, which allow them to agree transfer pricing issues with HMRC, and the procedure for entering into such agreements.

This practice note summarises the development of anti-avoidance case law from the European Court of Justice's decision in Halifax to date. It also includes some practical tips for structuring transactions to reduce the risk of attack by HMRC based on anti-avoidance case law.

A practice note about the direct tax disclosure regime which requires promoters, and in some cases, users, of certain tax planning arrangements to disclose details of the arrangements to HMRC.

 This practice note tracks cases of significance from a UK direct tax perspective that involve claims that direct tax law infringes the freedoms set out in the Treaty on the Functioning of the European Union (TFEU) (previously known as the EC Treaty). Links are provided to relevant judgments and PLC legal updates and articles. It also contains a summary of the key principles of EU law relevant to UK tax and a summary of the TFEU freedoms most often encountered in direct tax cases. 

This practice note examines the general anti-abuse rule (GAAR) and HMRC's GAAR guidance.

A practice note listing key forthcoming dates in 2012 for corporate tax practitioners.

A practice note setting out the rules imposing a limit on the corporation tax deductions that UK members and branches of a worldwide group are allowed for interest (known as the "debt cap"). The debt cap rules are contained in Part 7 of, and Part 7 of Schedule 9 to, the Taxation (International and Other Provisions) Act 2010 (TIOPA 2010) (formerly, section 35 of, and Schedule 15 to, the Finance Act 2009).

Following the announcement in the 2007 Pre-Budget Report that significant changes would be made to the tax rules governing residence and domicile from 6 April 2008, an avalanche of draft legislation, clarifications, amendments and guidance was published. Further amendments and changes were made as the bill progressed through parliament. In the light of this, we published this practice note to provide, in one place, an explanation of the key changes together with links to HMRC's guidance. However, following Royal Assent to the Finance Act 2008, all the changes relating to residence, domicile and related tax issues have been incorporated into Practice Note, Residence, ordinary residence and domicile: definitions and UK tax implications for individuals. THIS PRACTICE NOTE IS NO LONGER MAINTAINED.

This practice note discusses the situations in which UK tax relief may be available for demergers and the procedure for obtaining HMRC clearance for such transactions.

This note discusses the situations in which UK tax relief may be available in relation to a share buyback and the procedure for obtaining HMRC clearance for such transactions.

This practice note discusses the situations in which UK tax relief may be available for the transfer of a trade and the procedure for obtaining HMRC clearance for such transactions.

A document tracking the development of certain notable pieces of proposed new legislation relating to tax compliance, disputes and investigations.

A document tracking the development of certain notable pieces of proposed new legislation relating to finance taxation.

A document tracking the development of certain notable pieces of proposed new legislation relating to the taxation of investment structures.

A document tracking the development of certain notable pieces of proposed new legislation relating to the taxation of owner-managed businesses.

A document tracking the development of certain notable pieces of proposed new legislation relating to VAT.

This practice note explains the transactions in securities rules under which HMRC can counteract a tax advantage for a taxpayer arising from certain types of transaction(s) in shares or securities.

This note provides an overview of the UK/Switzerland tax co-operation agreement to tackle tax evasion by UK taxpayers holding funds in Swiss bank accounts. The agreement came into force on 1 January 2013. The note discusses the anonymous one-off payment to settle past tax liabilities, the withholding tax on income and capital gains going forward and the one-off withholding tax on death. It also looks at the requirements for disclosure as an alternative to these deductions, further protection in the agreement for HMRC (such as information requests) and options for UK residents with Swiss bank accounts. We would welcome subscribers' views on the practical implications of the agreement (see Your views). Note: this resource is being reviewed in the light of the 2013 Budget. For more information, see Legal update, 2013 Budget: key private client tax announcements.

Businesses are required to make a disclosure to HM Revenue & Customs when they derive a VAT benefit from certain VAT planning arrangements. The VAT avoidance disclosure rules came into force on 1 August 2004. This practice note examines the key practical implications of this reporting regime.