Commercial Litigation
At JHA, we have an established team of commercial litigation lawyers and KCs, which collaborate to deliver an effective case strategy, built around the clients’ commercial objectives. Our extensive experience and expertise are complemented by an agile approach. We are often able to complete a conflict check-in less than one hour, meaning we can start work at short notice for clients with time-sensitive needs.
Read MoreTax Disputes
JHA’s contentious tax practice brings together barristers, solicitors, chartered tax advisors and accountants. Together, we deliver a cohesive, considered and effective approach to advising and representing clients through all stages of a dispute.
Read MoreInsolvency Litigation
JHA’s contentious tax practice brings together barristers, solicitors, chartered tax advisors, and accountants. Together, we deliver a cohesive, considered and effective approach to advising and representing clients through all stages of a dispute.
Read MoreArbitration
Arbitration continues to grow in popularity as a means of resolving commercial disputes quickly, effectively and confidentially. In response to this increased demand, our arbitration capability has similarly grown and, using our depth of experience and understanding of the arbitration process, we continue to guide clients in a manner to fit their commercial objectives.
Read MoreInvestigation
An investigation can be a daunting prospect, with the requirements of resource and time alongside the potential threats to reputation and even license to operate. We provide unrivalled strategic advice and maintain long-standing working relationships with the SFO, FCA and other foreign regulators, to achieve the best possible client outcomes.
Read MoreCosts Litigation
The overseeing and recovery of costs is a core part of every dispute. Spiralling costs or the ability to obtain payment are major client concerns. At JHA, we make the process efficient and easy for our clients, which include in-house legal teams and other law firms.
Read MoreRECENT ARTICLES
Offshore Structures and Onward Gifts
The so-called “onward gift” tax anti-avoidance rules were introduced by the Finance Act 2018 to complement the changes brought in the previous year aimed at restricting the UK tax privileges afforded to non-UK domiciled individuals. The rules were designed to close some perceived loopholes in relation to the taxation of non-UK resident structures (including but not limited to non-UK trusts). With effect from 6 April 2018, it would no longer be possible for an individual to receive a gift without questioning its providence, particularly where family trusts are involved.
The rules were designed to prevent non-UK structures from using non-chargeable beneficiaries as conduits through which to pass payments in order to avoid tax charges. Gone are the days of “washing out” any trust gains that could be matched to offshore income or gains by prefacing a payment to a UK-resident taxable beneficiary with a non-taxable primary payment to a non-UK resident beneficiary.
“It is notoriously challenging to prove a negative (especially to HMRC) and even more tricky where the taxpayer must speak to someone’s intention other than their own.”
Note that the new rules will apply where funds are received from non-UK resident structures before 6 April 2018 to the extent that they are subsequently gifted after that date.
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Increased Investment in Personal Tax Compliance in the UK
Changes in public opinion, advances in technology and increased international fiscal co-operation have made global personal tax compliance initiatives pop up in abundance in recent years. In addition, the Russian invasion of Ukraine and the corresponding economic fallout have prompted governments to increase transparency in relation to investments by wealthy foreign individuals in their countries.
The UK’s HMRC is one of the most sophisticated tax collection authorities in the world and the department is making significant investments in technology in the field of compliance work.
It should therefore be well placed to take advantage of new international efforts to increase tax compliance, particularly against the backdrop of the already extensive network of bilateral tax treaties in the UK, and not forgetting that the UK was a founding member of the OECD’s Joint International Taskforce on Shared Intelligence and Collaboration (JITSIC) forum.
This article discusses the main developments in support of the increased focus on international transparency and tax compliance in the UK. There are other international fiscal initiatives, particularly in the field of corporate taxation, but such initiatives are beyond the scope of this article.
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Case note: Lynton Exports (Alsager) Ltd v Revenue and Customs Commissioners [2022] UKFTT 00224 (TC)
As HMRC continue to apply the Kittel principle to increasing numbers of industries and businesses, taxpayers need to be vigilant about evidential requirements that HMRC must fulfil in order to discharge their burden of proof. Read JHA’s latest insight into the First-tier Tribunal’s decision in Lynton Exports (Alsager) Ltd v Revenue and Customs Commissioners [2022] UKFTT 00224 (TC).
If you require any further information about the Kittel, Mecsek, and Ablessio principles, or any other allegations by HMRC of fraud or fraudulent abuse, please contact Iain MacWhannell (imw@jha.com).
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