The Court of Appeal upheld the previous Upper Tribunal and First Tier Tribunal decisions that film partnerships were not trading therefore their claim for tax relief was refused

The Criminal Finances Act 2017 raises concerns for tax advisers and accountants providing offshore tax advice, warn Jonathan Grimes, partner, and Jonathan Blunden, solicitor, criminal litigation practice, Kingsley Napley LLP. Here they consider the implications of the new rules affecting companies and partnerships

John Lewis Partnership has set aside a £36m accounting provision for the potential costs of complying with national minimum wage (NMW) regulations, after the high street retailer discovered its policy of pay averaging for staff may have resulted in a technical breach of the rules, due to the complexity of the calculations

UK schools and colleges stand to benefit from a VAT windfall after the European Court of justice (CJEU) confirmed that catering sales in training restaurants at educational establishments and admission charges to theatrical performances by students should be deemed services closely related to the provision of education, and so are exempt from VAT

Stuart Gulliver, group chief executive of HSBC, has his application of a closure notice on the tax year 2013-14 refused after it is concluded that he had a Hong Kong domicile of choice

Menzies head of employment tax Andrew Brookes outlines how public sector contractors can comply with changes to IR35 under new employment tax laws

HMRC has updated its guidance for individuals and companies who need to make a voluntary disclosure but who are not eligible for HMRC campaigns, now that it has fixed agent access to the digital disclosure service

James Hay, the UK retirement wealth planning platform which is a subsidiary of IFG Group, has revealed that it is in a legal dispute with HMRC over some £1.8m of unpaid tax on biofuel scheme investments held by some of its clients in self invested personal pensions (SIPPs)

A First Tier Tribunal (FTT) ruled in favour of the taxpayer after finding that principal residence relief (PRR) should be available to relieve from capital gains tax (CGT) on disposal of the apartment 

HMRC has numerous powers to check a business’ tax position. This can include VAT assurance visits or enquiries into self assessment tax returns or stamp duty land tax (SDLT) for land transactions. Checks are usually undertaken after a submission of a return but pre-return checks can be undertaken if HMRC believes there is a tax risk, but you need to be prepared to face the tax authority

Brazilian football international Neymar and his current club, Barcelona, are facing trial over allegations of fraud and corruption relating to the striker’s transfer from Brazilian team Santos in 2013

The Italian tax authority has reached an agreement with Google which will see the tech giant pay €306m (£259m) in a deal to settle a number of tax disputes, including claims relating to some €1bn of revenues made in Italy but booked in Ireland between 2009 and 2013