HMRC’s crackdown on tax avoidance has created a huge backlog of cases, with 28,521 disputes waiting to be heard by the First Tier Tax Tribunal at the end of 2016/17, according to Clara Boyd, legal director at Pinsent Masons. The number of complex cases launched in the Upper Tax Tribunal also surged last year to 404 from 288 in the previous year. Boyd said: ‘What some commentators see as HMRC’s aggressive litigation strategy can mean rulings take longer to reach—growing the backlog of cases. HMRC will give no ground and frequently will want to win every point.’
26 April 2018
Tax backlog swells
MOVERS & SHAKERS
NLJ Career Profile: Nikki Bowker, Devonshires
Nikki Bowker, head of dispute resolution at Devonshires, on career resilience, diversity in law and channelling Elle Woods when the pressure is on
Ellisons—Sarah Osborne
Leasehold enfranchisement specialist joins residential property team
DWF—Chris Air
Firm strengthens commercial team in Manchester with partner appointment
NEWS
The government will aim to pass legislation banning leasehold for new flats and capping ground rent, introducing non-compulsory digital ID and creating a ‘duty of candour’ for public servants (also known as the Hillsborough law) in the next Parliament
An Italian financier has lost his bid to block his Australian wife from filing divorce papers in England on the basis it was no longer her domicile of choice
Reforms to the disclosure regime in the business and property courts have not achieved their objectives, lawyers have warned
The Law Society has urged ministers to hold a public consultation on the use of artificial intelligence (AI) in the justice system as a whole
Ministers have proposed bringing inquest work under a single fee scheme for legal help and advocacy legal aid work
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