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R (Greyhound Board of Great Britain Ltd) v Welsh Ministers [2026] EWHC 670 (Admin) What are the practical implications of this case? The ruling reinforces the constitutional divide between the courts and the legislature. It explains that the scheme and framework of the Government of Wales Act 2006 (GWA 2006) embody that separation of powers, and that any judicial attempt to recognise and enforce a common law obligation on Welsh Ministers to consult prior to introducing legislation in the Senedd would trespass upon that boundary. This is not a departure from established principle; case law has already upheld comparable rules for lawmakers in Scotland and at Westminster. However, this is the first express confirmation of the position for Welsh lawmakers, and the first time this dimension of the GWA 2006 has been analysed in such depth. The court examined earlier
The solution arrived through the United Nations Compensation Commission (UNCC), a quasi‑judicial body handling mass claims, created under UN Security Council Resolution 687. By addressing environmental harm—most notably via its ‘F4’ claim class—the UNCC set a seminal benchmark shaping how international law and contemporary arbitral panels allocate financial responsibility for wartime ecological devastation. With present-day wars in areas such as Eastern Europe and the Middle East bringing dam breaches, strikes on chemical facilities, and the burning of farmland, the UNCC’s legacy endures as an essential reference point for states, global investors, and companies engaged in post‑conflict arbitration. The F4 claims: Quantifying the unquantifiable Prior to the 1990s, mechanisms in international law for war reparations overwhelmingly favoured property loss, foregone earnings, and bodily injury. The natural world was commonly treated as a mute, non-compensable victim of armed hostilities...
Understanding the farming business as a business Many farms still use long-standing structures that arose by habit, not strategy. Sole traders, informal partnerships and outdated partnership deeds are common. While once effective, such setups can cause major issues around succession, tax planning and involving the next generation. A corporate team can take a fresh, business-led view of the farm, asking: Who owns the land and other critical assets? Who manages daily operations? Who carries the risk and who enjoys the return? What is the enduring plan for succession? From this review, the team can confirm whether the current setup is fit for purpose or if an alternative — for example an updated partnership agreement, a company, a limited liability partnership, or a blended model — would better meet the family’s aims. Tax efficiency through joined-up advice Tax sits at the centre of most
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Marcus v Marcus [2025] EWHC 1695 ( Ch) What was the background? Stuart Marcus, a successful toy manufacturer, established a discretionary trust in 2003 for his ‘children and remoter issue’ and their spouses. At the time, he believed he had two biological children, Edward and Jonathan. Unbeknown to him, Edward may have been conceived during an affair Patricia, his wife, had within the marriage. The truth emerged in 2010 when Patricia told Edward that Stuart was not his biological father. That information was withheld from Stuart until his death in 2020, and Jonathan likewise remained unaware until he was told in 2023. After learning this, Jonathan commenced proceedings to exclude Edward from the trust, contending that he did not fall within the defined class of beneficiaries. In the first instance ruling ( Marcus v Marcus [2025] 2 All ER 446; [2024] EWHC 2086 ( Ch)),...
UT considers whether the decisions in Martland and Katib are binding on the FTT ( Medpro Healthcare Ltd & Another v HMRC) Medpro Healthcare Ltd & Another v HMRC [2025] UKUT 255 ( TCC) The Upper Tribunal stated that section 83G(6) of the Value Added Tax Act 1994 affords the First-tier Tribunal an unrestricted power to permit late appeals. A key issue on this appeal was whether that broad discretion has been improperly confined by prior UT rulings. In Martland v HMRC [2018] UKUT 178 ( TCC) ( Martland), the UT indicated that, when the FTT decides whether to admit a late appeal, it should adopt a three-step framework: determine the period of the delay identify the cause(s) of the delay undertake a balancing evaluation of all the circumstances of the case In HMRC v Katib [2019]......
Imperium Trustees ( Jersey) Ltd v Jersey Competent Authority and another ( Jersey) [2025] UKPC 28 What are the practical implications of this case? In recent years, tax transparency has dominated internationally, with information exchange giving authorities enhanced sight of how entities operate beyond their own borders, increasing cross-border visibility of their activities in other jurisdictions. That said, information notices under exchange-of-information regimes are constrained by safeguards akin to those that apply at home, so the same protections arise as for purely domestic notices. Any request must be pursued using local information-gathering powers, and only to the extent the requesting state itself could demand the material, going no further than that standard permits. In practice, disputes usually turn on whether the authority genuinely needs the information to examine a taxpayer’s position; in Imperium Trustees, the substantive judicial review will assess if the material sought was...
FTT finds there was no power for HMRC to deny Soft Drinks Industry Levy ( SDIL) export credits for periods for which the taxpayer was not liable to account for SDIL ( Millennium Cash & Carry Ltd v HMRC) Millennium Cash & Carry Ltd v HMRC [2025] UKFTT 865 ( TC) The First-tier Tribunal held that HMRC lacked authority to refuse SDIL export credits for periods when the taxpayer had no obligation to account for the levy. Introduced in 2018 as part of the government’s drive to combat childhood obesity, the SDIL is the subject of this first-ever FTT case. The taxpayer, a wholesaler of alcoholic and soft drinks, imported beverages liable to SDIL for sale in the UK. It registered for SDIL in 2018 and, across multiple returns, sought SDIL credits for drinks that were...
In this issue: Probate Trusts Court of Protection Elderly and vulnerable clients UK taxes for Private Client HMRC Manuals updates Regulatory compliance for Private Client Family businesses and ownership structures Charity and philanthropy Contentious trusts and estates Pensions, insurance and tax efficient investments Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland Question of the week Daily and weekly news alerts Lex Talk® Private Client: a Lexis+® community New and updated content Dates for your diary Trackers Latest Q& As Useful information Probate Application granted to seal Will of former IRA agent ( Johnson v His Majesty’s Attorney- General) The Chancery Division, on a summons, ordered the Will of Frank Cowley (formerly Freddie Scappaticci) to be sealed pursuant to the Non- Contentious Probate Rules 1987, SI...
See Q& A: Do executors have the power to pay a contingent legacy to a minor legatee before the legatee has met the contingency? If a beneficiary is under 18 and the bequest is conditional on the child reaching that age (or a higher age), neither the child nor their parents can provide the executors with a receipt that is valid for that legacy. Once the child reaches the age of entitlement, they can then give a valid receipt......
The IFTCC v Charity Commission [2025] UKFTT 449 ( GRC) What are the practical implications of this case? Organisations formed, even in part, to bring about changes to the law or government policy will not secure charitable status. More precisely, where an organisation claims the advancement of education as its charitable aim, conduct that seeks to persuade individuals to adopt the body’s doctrine makes recognition less likely. This judgment also underscores that a court may look beyond stated objects to an organisation’s day-to-day operations and internal policies. The FTT found that the registration of other, apparently similar organisations was irrelevant to this appeal. Arguments based on comparators will not be entertained; each matter depends on its own facts. What was the background? By the Charities Act 2011 ( CA 2011), an entity qualifies as a charity only if it is established solely for charitable purposes and serves the...
What was the background to HMRC’s consultation? In the 2024 Autumn Budget, the Chancellor set out her intention to bring inheritance tax into scope for pension funds that remain within an individual’s pension at death. While pension entitlements have, as a rule, sat outside the inheritance tax net, there has long been anxiety that pensions could be deployed as an estate planning device in ways that amount to inheritance tax avoidance. This anxiety sharpened following the relaxation of pension tax rules under the Finance Act 2004 ( FA 2004), which took effect in April 2006. From that point, the fear was that savers might shift assets into their pension and simply preserve the pot for their beneficiaries, particularly because FA 2004 removed any compulsion to secure an annuity. To counteract such outcomes, FA 2004 initially incorporated several limiting...
In this issue Budgets and Finance Bills Trusts Court of Protection Elderly and vulnerable clients Spouses, civil partners and cohabitants UK taxes for Private Client HMRC Manuals updates Regulatory compliance for Private Client Insolvency— Private Client Pensions, insurance and tax efficient investments International Question of the week Additional Private Client updates this week Daily and weekly news alerts Lex Talk®Private Client: a Lexis+® community New and updated content Dates for your diary Trackers Latest Q& As Useful information Budgets and Finance Bills Legislation Day: Draft Finance Bill 2026— Private Client analysis On Legislation Day, 21 July 2025, the government released draft clauses intended for Finance Bill 2026 ( FB 2026, also termed Finance Bill 2025–26), alongside explanatory notes and supporting materials. It also issued...
On 21 July 2025 HM Revenue and Customs ( HMRC) issued its reply to the consultation, conducted between October 2024 and January 2025, on bringing unspent pension pots and death benefits within the scope of IHT, together with a policy paper and draft legislation that confirm the change to the rules on the IHT treatment of unused pension funds, due to formally apply from 6 April 2027......
Michael Kelly v HMRC [2025] UKFTT 852 ( TC) The taxpayer belonged to two film partnerships, Invicta and Echo, and included the resulting income on his self-assessment income tax returns. HMRC issued closure notices to Invicta and, pursuant to section 28B(4) of the Taxes Management Act 1970 ( TMA 1970), made a consequential amendment to the taxpayer’s personal returns. He appealed to the FTT. HMRC contended that the FTT lacked jurisdiction and that the appeal should be struck out under r 8(2)(a) of the Tribunal Procedure ( First-tier Tribunal) ( Tax Chamber) Rules 2009 ( FTT Rules), SI 2009/273, on the basis that there was no right of appeal under any relevant provisions of the TMA 1970. The taxpayer argued that HMRC had made two amendments: the consequential amendment relating to Invicta, and an erroneous uplift to his personal income...
Haworth and others v Revenue and Customs Commissioners [2025] EWCA Civ 822 What are the practical implications of this case? Double tax treaties require the identification of a single country of residence. For entities rather than individuals, the pre‑2017 OECD Model Convention applied a tiebreak that treated a dual‑resident person as resident where its place of effective management was located. From 2017, the Model moved to resolution via a mutual agreement procedure ( MAP) between the contracting states, although place of effective management remains a relevant consideration in that exercise. This decision will therefore be significant for advisers working with entities—such as companies and trusts—that are resident both in the UK and another jurisdiction, when considering how a DTT applies. It is the first appellate ruling to offer granular guidance to practitioners and tribunals on how to......
In this issue: Probate Court of Protection UK taxes for Private Client HMRC Manuals tracker Tax avoidance, evasion and non-compliance Budgets and Finance Bills Digital assets and cryptoassets Charity and philanthropy Contentious trusts and estates Art and heritage property, landed estates and farming families Pensions, insurance and tax efficient investments Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland International Question of the week Daily and weekly news alerts Lex Talk®Private Client: a Lexis+® community New and updated content Dates for your diary Trackers Latest Q& A Useful information Probate ICAEW launches consultation on 2026 probate registration fee increases The Institute of Chartered Accountants in England and Wales has opened a consultation on probate registration charges for 2026. It proposes a 5% uplift to offset inflation and satisfy Legal...
See Q& A: Where an executed deed of appointment within a trust omits the appointee’s name because of a clerical slip, will the courts commonly admit evidence of the appointors’ intention to aid the construction of the instrument? Or is rectification instead required? Construing an instrument ordinarily involves interpreting the wording actually used in it, and focuses on objective meaning conveyed by the text as a whole. If......
Stenhouse and another v HMRC [2025] UKFTT 820 ( TC) and Abbey Healthcare v HMRC [2025] UKFTT 822 ( TC) In Stenhouse, HMRC issued discovery assessments under section 29 of the Taxes Management Act 1970 totalling £450,000, relying on the extended six‑year window for careless conduct. Further penalties were imposed for several Schedule 36 Finance Act 2008 information notices that had not been observed, with non‑compliance forming the basis for those penalties. HMRC ultimately rejected out‑of‑time appeals against the assessments and the penalties, pointing to delays ranging from 68 to 33 months as excessive. The appellants asked the FTT to allow a late appeal. They contended they could not appeal until they had obtained RBS bank statements, as without them they were unable to challenge HMRC’s calculations. Securing those statements proved difficult, partly because of...
Vietjet Aviation Joint Stock Company v FW Aviation ( Holdings) 1 Ltd [2025] EWCA Civ 783 What are the practical implications of this case? The Court of Appeal reaffirmed the summary of the principles governing the interpretation of tax treaties set out by Lady Justice Falk in Royal Bank of Canada v HMRC [2023] EWCA Civ 695, [2023] STC 1205, a position later upheld by the Supreme Court ( Royal Bank of Canada v Revenue and Customs Commissioners [2025] UKSC 2, [2025]1 WLR 939). Practitioners will be reassured that the Court of Appeal left untouched centuries of tax law that firmly preserves the distinction between trading and investment. Viet Jet contended that the trial judge had fallen into error in concluding that, because FWA carried on a trade, it was not ‘making or managing investments’......
Tonkin v HMRC [2025] UKFTT 750 ( TC) What are the practical implications of this case? The ruling offers helpful certainty: when a disguised remuneration arrangement collapses for income tax and NIC, an IHT charge under IHTA 1984, s 94 is not an inevitable consequence. The Tribunal found that s 94(2)(a) was in point, meaning no apportionment—and therefore no IHT liability—arose insofar as the transfer of value corresponded to sums brought into account in calculating employment income. This outcome trims HMRC’s ability to deploy IHT as a back-up assessment where remuneration schemes fail. The judgment also reflects judicial unease with attempts to impose overlapping liabilities where the relevant value has already borne PAYE in full. Overall, it underlines that the IHT code must operate consistently with the income tax regime, and that Parliament’s protections against double taxation must be upheld. In short, it brings welcome...
Rogers v Wills [2025] EWHC 1367 ( Ch) What are the practical implications of this case? Reimbursement of costs of caring for family members— In this claim the claimant sought repayment from her late mother’s estate for expenses incurred in providing care. Although outcomes will always depend on the specific facts, this ruling may pave the way for comparable claims where contractual arrangements or unjust enrichment are pleaded. Intention to create legal relations— It is unusual for a court to find that relatives intended a binding contract. Yet the judge appeared to dismiss any presumption against such intention. Rather, the issue was said to be a matter for the evidence available (with the nature of the relationship only one component) as to whether there was an intention to create legal relations. Capacity— Having considered the Mental Capacity Act 2005, the judge...
Bunyan ( Valuation Officer) v Fridays Ltd [2025] EWCA Civ 666 What are the practical implications of this case? Although Fridays succeeded in the Court of Appeal, the court rejected their broader submission. To qualify as an ‘agricultural building’ (and thereby benefit from the exemption) a structure must satisfy an occupation test—that it is occupied with agricultural land—and a use test—that it is employed solely for agricultural operations on that land or on other agricultural land. The Upper Tribunal concluded that the 2003 revision to the definition displaced earlier authority which had required the building and land to comprise a single agricultural unit. It held instead that the correct approach was that the building and land needed to be held as part of the same enterprise and be geographically proximate, if not adjoining. The Court of Appeal found that analysis to be mistaken and...
In this issue: Probate Powers of attorney and advance decisions Trusts UK taxes for Private Client HMRC Manuals updates Budgets and Finance Bills Contentious trusts and estates Art and heritage property, landed estates and farming families Pensions, insurance and tax efficient investments International Question of the week Daily and weekly news alerts Lex Talk®Private Client: a Lexis+® community Dates for your diary Trackers Useful information Probate English court declines registration of Italian succession judgment ( Sidoli v Sidoli) Private Client analysis: The court concluded that the Foreign Judgments ( Reciprocal Enforcement) Act 1933 ( FJ( RE) A 1933) does not, or generally does not, allow registration of decisions from foreign courts concerning succession. It accordingly refused to register an Italian judgment on succession, finding it came within the FJ( RE) A 1933, s 4...
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When evaluating a general damages claim, the practitioner ought initially to refer to the Judicial College Guidelines (JCG)...
This Practice Note This Practice Note reviews mechanisms used in settling litigation. A Tomlin order consists of a consent order paired with a schedule. It operates to stay proceedings on terms that have been agreed. The provisions contained in the schedule may remain confidential. This Practice Note describes the scope of confidentiality attaching to the schedule and sets out how it differs from a standard consent order. Sample wording for a Tomlin order is included, alongside links to precedents, as well as guidance on court approval. It also addresses varying, setting aside and enforcing a Tomlin order, including the considerations the court will take into account when handling applications for each. Further guidance is provided on interpreting and applying the relevant provisions of the CPR; however, some courts and divisions impose very specific requirements for both drafting and approval, and for approaching the schedule and confidentiality issues. Accordingly, you must consider the particular rules and court guide provisions in the forum where your claim is proceeding when drawing up the Tomlin order...
Date [ date ] Parties [ name of Landlord ] [ of OR incorporated in England and Wales (company registration number [ number ]) with its registered office at ] [ address ] (Landlord) [ name of Tenant ] [ of OR incorporated in England and Wales (company registration number [ number ]) with its registered office at ] [ address ] (Tenant) [ [ name of Guarantor ] [ of OR incorporated in England and Wales (company registration number [ number ]) with its registered office at ] [ address ] (Guarantor) ] [ [ name of Mortgagee ] [ of OR incorporated in England and Wales (company registration number [ number ]) with its registered office at ] [ address ] (Mortgagee) ] Definitions Within this Deed, the terms below shall be interpreted as follows: [ Annual Rent • the annual sum reserved under the Lease; ] [ Insurance Rent • the Tenant’s share of the Landlord’s costs of insuring the Property (as set out in the Lease); ] Lease • the lease of the Property dated [ date ], entered into between (1) [ the Landlord OR [ name ...
I, [ name ], of [ address ], solemnly and sincerely state that: [ Matters to be verified, set out in numbered paragraphs ] I make this solemn statement in good conscience, believing it to be true, and pursuant to the provisions of the Statutory Declarations Act 1835. DECLARED at [ details ] this [ day ] day of [ month and year ] Before me ................................................................................ [ signature of the person before whom the declaration is made ] A [ commissioner for oaths OR [ solicitor OR [ insert other qualification ] ] authorised to administer oaths ]...
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