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08 January 2020 / Peter Vaines
Issue: 7869 / Categories: Features , Commercial , Tax
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Taxing matters

13678
Peter Vaines puts HMRC in the dock & expects the truth, the whole truth & nothing but the truth
  • Reliance on HMRC manuals & the automatic issue of HMRC notices…with a nod to crypto currencies & IHT.

It is a matter of profound importance that taxpayers and professional advisers are able to rely on the published statements of HMRC in connection with their own tax affairs and the affairs of their clients. The very idea that we might not be able to trust the public statements of one of the most important and prestigious organs of government, must surely be unthinkable.

It is in this context that the recent decision of the Court of Appeal in Aozora GMAC Investment Ltd v HMRC [2019] EWCA Civ 1643 assumes some importance.

The case was all about whether the company was entitled to double taxation relief which had been refused by HMRC on the authority of s 793A of the Income and Corporation Taxes Act 1988 (ICTA 1988). The company said that HMRC’s interpretation

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MOVERS & SHAKERS

Clarke Willmott—Matthew Roach

Clarke Willmott—Matthew Roach

Partner joins commercial property team in Taunton office

Farrer & Co—Richard Lane

Farrer & Co—Richard Lane

Londstanding London firm appoints new senior partner

Bird & Bird—Sue McLean

Bird & Bird—Sue McLean

Commercial team in London welcomes technology specialist as partner

NEWS
What safeguards apply when trust corporations are appointed as deputy by the Court of Protection? 
Disputing parties are expected to take part in alternative dispute resolution (ADR), where this is suitable for their case. At what point, however, does refusing to participate cross the threshold of ‘unreasonable’ and attract adverse costs consequences?
When it comes to free legal advice, demand massively outweighs supply. 'Millions of people are excluded from access to justice as they don’t have anywhere to turn for free advice—or don’t know that they can ask for help,' Bhavini Bhatt, development director at the Access to Justice Foundation, writes in this week's NLJ
When an ex-couple is deciding who gets what in the divorce or civil partnership dissolution, when is it appropriate for a third party to intervene? David Burrows, NLJ columnist and solicitor advocate, considers this thorny issue in this week’s NLJ
NLJ's latest Charities Appeals Supplement has been published in this week’s issue
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