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05 May 2017 / Peter Vaines
Issue: 7744 / Categories: Features , Tax
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Taxing matters

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Peter Vaines reports on the latest news from the world of tax

  • What is a reasonable excuse for not paying tax on time?
  • If the owner of shares dies before making a claim for income tax relief under s 131 of the Income Tax Act 2007, can the claim be made by his executors?
  • Revisiting the text for employee expenses.
  • What is to become of the Finance Bill?

I am always on the lookout for reasonable excuses (you never know when you might need one) and there have been two conflicting cases decided recently.

In Crossley v HMRC TC 5535 the taxpayer managed to persuade the Tribunal that he had a reasonable excuse for not paying his tax on time because he did not have the money. That was a seriously impressive success because Sch 56(16) of the Finance Act 2009 specifically states: ‘An insufficiency of funds is not a reasonable excuse, unless attributable to events outside the person’s control.’

The facts were interesting—but it just goes to show that the words ‘attributable

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MOVERS & SHAKERS

Carey Olsen—Patrick Ormond

Carey Olsen—Patrick Ormond

Partner joinscorporate and finance practice in British Virgin Islands

Dawson Cornwell—Naomi Angell

Dawson Cornwell—Naomi Angell

Firm strengthens children department with adoption and surrogacy expert

Penningtons Manches Cooper—Graham Green

Penningtons Manches Cooper—Graham Green

Media and technology expert joins employment team as partner in Cambridge

NEWS
Freezing orders in divorce proceedings can unexpectedly ensnare third parties and disrupt businesses. In NLJ this week, Lucy James of Trowers & Hamlins explains how these orders—dubbed a ‘nuclear weapon’—preserve assets but can extend far beyond spouses to companies and business partners 
A Court of Appeal ruling has clarified that ‘rent’ must be monetary—excluding tenants paid in labour from statutory protection. In this week's NLJ, James Naylor explains Garraway v Phillips, where a tenant worked two days a week instead of paying rent
Thousands more magistrates are to be recruited, under a major shake-up to speed up and expand the hiring process
Three men wrongly imprisoned for a combined 77 years have been released—yet received ‘not a penny’ in compensation, exposing deep flaws in the justice system. Writing in NLJ this week, Dr Jon Robins reports on Justin Plummer, Oliver Campbell and Peter Sullivan, whose convictions collapsed amid discredited forensics, ‘oppressive’ police interviews and unreliable ‘cell confessions’
A quiet month for employment cases still delivers key legal clarifications. In his latest Employment Law Brief for NLJ, Ian Smith reports that whistleblowing protection remains intact even where disclosures are partly self-serving, provided the worker reasonably believes they serve the ‘public interest’ 
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