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"Disputes between taxpayers and HM Revenue and Customs (HMRC) that reach the First-tier Tribunal (FTT) can be costly for the taxpayer in terms of both time and money. Those costs might be exacerbated if HMRC acts unreasonably in its approach to the appeal hearing. 

Mark McLaughlin looks at claims for costs against HMRC for unreasonable behaviour in appeal hearings.

This second article in a five-part series looking at family investment companies (FICs) considers incorporation, share class design, funding options, and the often-overlooked inheritance tax (IHT) and stamp duty land tax (SDLT) implications of establishing the structure correctly (this article assumes that the properties are located in England). 

Nick Wright examines the practical and tax issues that arise when establishing a family investment company.  

A person may wish to offer financial help to a family member or friend to get their business off the ground.  

Sarah Bradford considers the implications of buying shares in a company and making a loan to a company. 

By the beginning of this year, the ‘new’ VAT rules related to vouchers had been in operation for seven years already. On this occasion, now is a good time to take stock of the case law on these rules which has been published to date. 

Fabian Barth examines the state of the law seven years after the introduction of the VAT voucher rules, discussing where the case law has clarified their operation and which gaps remain. 

A company is a separate legal entity, distinct from the shareholders that own it. Consequently, if the directors and shareholders want to use the profits made by the company for their personal use, they will need to extract those profits first. There are various ways in which this can be done; some are more tax-efficient than others.  

Sarah Bradford considers options for extracting profits from a company in a tax-efficient manner in the 2024/25 tax year.

HMRC recently undertook a ‘One to Many’ letter campaign, wherein HMRC’s skilled data analysts undertake to mine nuggets from a huge range of sources to test for omissions or errors in tax returns. 

Lee Sharpe reports on HMRC getting all ‘Nancy Drew’ with its sleuthing over company reporting and shareholders’ dividend income returns. 

Some company shareholders may either be unaware or have forgotten about a relatively unknown capital gains tax (CGT) relief that offers a reduced CGT rate of only 10% on qualifying gains of up to £10m during their lifetime, if certain conditions are satisfied.  

Mark McLaughlin highlights a relatively unknown and infrequently used but generous capital gains tax relief.

Owner-managers can spend a significant amount of time and energy building a successful and profitable trading company.

Joe Brough looks at tax issues for business taxpayers and their tax advisers when a company is coming to an end.