Whitehall Update
Whitehall Update is written by the Employee Ownership team at Field Fisher Waterhouse LLP, led by Graeme Nuttall, tax partner (pictured). Field Fisher Waterhouse LLP is legal adviser to the EOA. Contact Graeme at graeme.nuttall@ffw.com.
May 2010
TUPE and tax
The Kuehne + Nagel case provides a helpful analysis of why lump sums paid to employees on the transfer of a business were taxable as employment income
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February 2010
ABI Update
The Association of British Insurers has published a position paper (December 2009) on executive remuneration
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January 2010
Employee Ownership Index
Since 1992, the Employee Ownership Index has tracked the share prices of UK public companies which are more than 10% employee-owned.
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December 2009
Disclosure of tax avoidance schemes
A consultation document on the disclosure of tax avoidance schemes proposes the extension of this regime to cover schemes that seek to avoid tax in relation to employment income or gain a tax advantage by substituting a capital receipt for income.
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December 2009
Pre-Budget Report 2009
A rumoured major boost to employee share ownership did not materialise in the PBR 2009. Instead, the emphasis remains on ‘housekeeping’ and counter-acting tax avoidance.
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November 2009
Longer lasting EBTs
In broad terms, apart from charitable trusts, UK trusts cannot exist forever. Current law only allows trusts to exist for a fixed period of 80 years. In practice, most EBT founders have been prepared to leave the problem of what happens in 80 years time to another generation.
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November 2009
HMRC challenges tax avoidance schemes involving trusts
HM Revenue and Customs generally keeps quiet about tax planning. However, there are a few tax avoidance ideas it tries to deter by publicising them, along with a clear warning that it will challenge such arrangements and seek full settlement of liabilities through enquiry and litigation.
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November 2009
Inheritance risk for 5% or more shareholders
EOA members were told of an inheritance tax (“IHT”) pitfall in the June 2007 Whitehall Update. In some circumstances, when a company makes a contribution to an EBT this can create an IHT liability on any 5% or more shareholders in the company.
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November 2009
Grogan's QUEST
There is an anti-avoidance provision that HMRC can use to tax, in particular, the proceeds of share sales as dividends instead of as capital gains. The controlling shareholder in a company sold shares to a qualifying employee share ownership trust (“QUEST”) at a commercial price.
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November 2009
Annual returns
HMRC has published most of the annual return forms needed for approved share plans and unapproved arrangements in respect of tax year 2009/10
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