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This Practice Note outlines the law concerning criminal recklessness. The subjective test for recklessness Certain statutory and common law offences allow the prosecution to prove mens rea through ‘recklessness’. Put simply, recklessness is where the accused takes an unjustified risk that results in unlawful harm or damage. The House of Lords in R v G reaffirmed the subjective approach to recklessness. Before R v G, two distinct tests were used, depending on the offence charged: Subjective recklessness from R v Cunningham: the prosecution had to establish that the accused personally foresaw the risk. Objective recklessness from R v Caldwell: the prosecution only needed to show that the risk would have been obvious to a reasonable person, without proving the accused themselves foresaw it. In R v G, the House of Lords concluded that the objective test could operate unfairly where a defendant did not foresee the
This Practice Note examines the remedy of rescission, explaining when and in what manner a contract can be unwound (at common law, in equity and under statute) and thereby terminated and brought to an end. It covers the consequences and effects of rescission, the principal grounds for setting aside an agreement (misrepresentation, mistake, undue influence, duress, non‑disclosure, fiduciary misdealing and bribery) and the main obstacles to claiming rescission—affirmation, the intervention of third‑party rights and the impossibility of restitution. For further guidance on rescission in the context of misrepresentation, see Practice Note: Misrepresentation—rescission as a remedy. There are many ways in which a contract may reach its end; see: Terminating contracts—how and when a contract ends—overview for a brief and accessible summary, with links to the related further practical guidance, including Practice Note: Termination and expiry of contracts. For a table
What is a res judicata? A res judicata is a determination by a court or tribunal with jurisdiction over the cause of action and the parties, which finally disposes of the issues decided so they cannot be litigated again by those bound, save on appeal. Final judgments entered by default or by consent fall within this concept, whereas rulings on purely procedural points and any decision lacking finality do not. The doctrine’s aim is to bring litigation to an end and shield parties from being harassed by the same dispute twice. in personam—binds the parties and their privies in rem—binds all persons, privy or otherwise (ie a judgment binding the whole world) A party may rely on res judicata: as an estoppel to defeat an opponent’s claim or defence; and/or as the basis of their own claim or
The offence of causing grievous bodily harm with intent Wounding or causing grievous bodily harm (GBH) with intent can be tried solely in the Crown Court on indictment. Elements of the offence Under the Offences against the Person Act 1861 (OATPA 1861), the prosecution must establish that the defendant unlawfully and maliciously: wounded with the intention of causing GBH, or caused GBH with that intention, or wounded intending to resist or prevent the lawful arrest or detention of any person, or caused GBH intending to resist or prevent the lawful arrest or detention of any person ‘Unlawfully’ and ‘maliciously’ Unlawfully The wounding or causing of GBH must be unlawful. Such conduct may be lawful if used: in self-defence in defence of another in defence of property for the prevention of crime where the victim gave express or implied consent For further information on these defences, see below:
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ARCHIVED: This archived Practice Note reviews the tax treatment of foreign currency gains and losses realised by individuals, trustees and personal representatives when withdrawing funds from overseas bank accounts. Major amendments to the rules took effect on 6 April 2012. The Note offers a brief outline of the post‑6 April 2012 position; it also examines the rules up to 5 April 2012 in greater detail. Abolition of remittance basis from 6 April 2025 The remittance basis of taxation was abolished for UK resident non-domiciled individuals from 6 April 2025. The final year in which the remittance basis can be claimed is the 2024–25 tax year. From 6 April 2025, a new four-year regime, colloquially known as the foreign income and gain ( FIG) regime, will be available, providing 100% relief on eligible FIG for new arrivals to the UK in their first four years of tax...
FORTHCOMING CHANGE relating to call for evidence on tax support for entrepreneurs: At Budget 2025, the government launched a formal public call for evidence (closing date: 28 February 2026) on how existing tax incentive arrangements operate and on potential measures to extend support for entrepreneurs. The exercise concentrates in part on the venture capital schemes and on enterprise management incentives. It also references investors’ relief and, more specifically, invites views on how the tax regime might better enable reinvestment by successful entrepreneurs, including the function and effectiveness of business asset disposal relief. Investors’ relief is a capital gains tax ( CGT) relief intended for individuals who invest in unquoted trading companies while not taking part in the management or operation of the business. Such investors will not generally qualify for business asset disposal relief ( BADR, formerly...
Capital gains tax ( CGT) CGT provisions have long offered substantial relief to owners exiting their businesses. Up to 2008, assistance came through business asset taper relief and, earlier still, through retirement relief. When taper relief was scrapped in 2008, entrepreneurs’ relief was brought in to sustain the preferential effective CGT rate on business assets previously available under taper. From 6 April 2020, entrepreneurs’ relief took on a new name: business asset disposal relief ( BADR). In essence, BADR lowers the CGT rate payable by business proprietors when they dispose of their business. Trustees may likewise claim BADR on the sale of business assets they hold, in the same way as individuals, provided the requisite conditions are met. For further detail on when individuals can obtain BADR and the qualifying conditions more generally (including the amendments introduced by Finance Act 2016 and Finance Act 2019 ( FA...
What is capital gains tax? When an individual sells or otherwise disposes of an asset and realises a profit that is capital in character, and which is not charged to income tax nor taxed elsewhere, a chargeable capital gain may arise. Whether a CGT charge applies is shaped by a number of conditions: the asset, the nature of the disposal, and the person making that disposal must each be of a type that can fall within CGT the disposal consideration for the asset must be identified and assessed correctly for CGT purposes the calculation of consideration minus allowable costs must deliver a positive figure, i.e. a gain (see Practice Note: CGT—how to calculate a capital gain) a relevant exemption or relief could apply to reduce or remove the charge there may be allowable losses available to set off against the gain In the UK, a distinction is drawn between sales...
FORTHCOMING CHANGE relating to call for evidence on tax support for entrepreneurs: At Budget 2025, the government issued a call for evidence (deadline: 28 February 2026) examining how existing tax incentive programmes function and exploring ways to bolster support for entrepreneurs. It reviews the impact of current reliefs and potential avenues for additional assistance to entrepreneurs within the tax system. The exercise concentrates in part on the venture capital schemes and on enterprise management incentives. It also considers investors’ relief and, in particular, invites views on how the tax framework can facilitate reinvestment by successful entrepreneurs, including the purpose and effectiveness of business asset disposal relief. Business asset disposal relief ( BADR), previously known as entrepreneurs’ relief for tax years before 2020–21, is a capital gains tax ( CGT) relief intended to encourage people to found and grow their own...
General principles For capital gains tax ( CGT) purposes, trustees are regarded as a single chargeable person in their own right, distinct from the individual trustees. Although people often speak of trusts as if they, like a company, had their own separate legal personality, it is crucial to remember they do not. The process for working out a chargeable gain arising to trustees is largely the same as that used for an individual. Trustees may choose to sell trust assets where, acting in line with their duties as trustees (see Practice Note: Trustees—duties), they believe this best serves the beneficiaries’ interests. Where trust property is in fact disposed of by an arm’s length sale to an unconnected third party, the computational rules use the consideration received for the disposal to calculate the chargeable gain. Besides actual disposals of trust property, trustees can be deemed to make a...
ARCHIVED This archived Practice note reviews the clawback of business investment relief ( BIR), the remittance relief for investment into UK companies. It covers: extraction of value how to avoid a chargeable remittance after a potentially chargeable event the order in which disposals are treated the interaction with the mixed funds rules the capital gains tax ( CGT) position STOP PRESS: Abolition of non-dom regime and introduction of residence-based IHT regime The Finance Act 2025 ( FA 2025), which received Royal Assent on 20 March 2025, legislates to abolish the remittance basis of taxation and introduce a residence-based regime from 6 April 2025. FA 2025 also replaces domicile as the key criterion for inheritance tax liability. Additional changes include amendments to the excluded property rules, removal of protected settlements status for offshore trusts, and revisions to overseas workday relief. For details on these...
The Budget The Budget is a Parliamentary occasion where the Chancellor of the Exchequer delivers key statements on the national economy. It sets out the government’s tax intentions for the next year, and at times for later periods. Most measures due in the following tax year will already have been announced and consulted on in advance. Fresh announcements may arrive on Budget day—some, mainly anti-avoidance steps, take effect immediately. Others are scheduled to commence from a future date. The Budget also precedes the presentation of the Finance Bill to Parliament. In most years there is a single Finance Bill, though in some—such as those featuring a general election—there have been two or even three, as outlined below. Income tax and corporation tax are annual charges, so they can only be levied for a year (a tax year for income tax, or a financial year for...
The Bribery Act 2010 ( BA 2010) Enacted to secure the UK’s adherence to the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development’s ( OECD) Convention on Combating Bribery of Foreign Public Officials in International Business Transactions, the Bribery Act 2010 ( BA 2010) delivers an effective framework to address corruption across public and private spheres, updating the UK’s anti-corruption regime and supplanting Prevention of Corruption Act 1906 and Prevention of Corruption Act 1916. BA 2010 carries significant consequences for any company incorporated in, or trading from, the UK. Its global reach covers bribery undertaken by a business, or by third parties acting for it, regardless of where in the world the conduct occurs......
This Practice Note sets out a concise overview of actions by the UK, the EU and the G20 to advance transparency, and points to matters of particular relevance for Private Client practitioners and trustees. For guidance on the due diligence duties placed on Private Client practitioners or their law firms, see the Practice Compliance content, including: Client due diligence—law firms—overview. Global developments towards beneficial ownership transparency In 2014, the G20 agreed high-level principles on beneficial ownership transparency. In March 2015, the UK government introduced legislation requiring a UK entity to maintain a register of persons with significant control ( PSC) from April 2016. A public register of PSCs (the PSC Register) became operational on 30 June 2016. In May 2015, the EU adopted the Fourth Money Laundering Directive (4MLD), which requires beneficial ownership information to be held in a central...
Today, corporate openness is regarded as a vital pillar of any approach to reduce or eradicate corruption, tax evasion, terrorist funding and money laundering. The government has observed that offshore corporate vehicles used to mask the real owners of UK property have drawn those wishing to conceal illicit funds and cleanse the proceeds of crime. From 2004 to 2014, more than £180m of UK property was examined as suspected proceeds of corruption. Enhancing transparency over property ownership will ease the work of enforcement agencies and discourage criminals and the corrupt from opting for the UK to hide or launder their money. Registration of an overseas company opening an ‘establishment’ in the UK Note that an overseas company must be registered at Companies House if it opens an ‘establishment’ in the UK. An establishment is a branch within the meaning of the Eleventh Company Law...
The sharing of data between HMRC and tax authorities in other territories is a crucial means of helping administrations both run and police their tax systems, and of confronting avoidance and evasion. Over the years, as barriers to global trade have fallen and capital has become ever more mobile, the need for robust information exchange has expanded significantly. The UK has traditionally, indeed historically, supplied tax‑related information on request or on a spontaneous basis, yet in recent years the emphasis has moved increasingly towards routine, automatic reporting of information. The US Foreign Account Tax Compliance Act ( FATCA) acted as a spur by mandating the automatic transmission of details concerning US citizens between foreign (i.e. non‑ US) financial institutions and the tax authorities of the US. The US and the G5 countries (the UK, France, Germany, Italy and Spain) created model Inter‑...
A company can be tax resident in two states—see Practice Note: When a company is UK tax resident— Can a company have multiple residencies for tax purposes? For completeness, that guidance explores the question in detail. There can be drawbacks too at times. While this may carry drawbacks, such an entity might also exploit domestic reliefs available in each country where it is regarded as resident. For instance, a company incorporated in the US but with central management and control in the UK will, in principle, be resident in both the UK and the US (absent a competent authority agreement assigning exclusive residence under the UK/ US double tax treaty, which is unlikely to be secured). Without rules stating otherwise, that company could set its losses against the profits of both a UK tax group and a US...
Interaction of matrimonial and other laws Marriage may alter the parties’ rights in one or more of the following respects in practice: Matrimonial contract and property regimes English law has long recognised that the law of the matrimonial domicile can import foreign notions of matrimonial contracts and property regimes. The extent to which any such regime governs only movables, or extends to immovables, remains uncertain at present. In June 2016, the EU brought in rules for recognising matrimonial regimes applicable to marriages and registered partnerships. Both mixed-sex and same-sex marriages and registered partnerships may fall within matrimonial property regimes as appropriate. Accordingly, recording a marriage or registered partnership can impact proprietary entitlements in practice. See Practice Note: Forced heirship and succession law — Matrimonial property regime for additional detail where relevant and...
Autumn Budget 2024 At the Autumn Budget on 30 October 2024, the Labour government confirmed it would scrap the remittance basis of taxation and bring in a residence-based regime, commencing on 6 April 2025. From the same date, inheritance tax ( IHT) will also switch to a residence-based system, supplanting the previous rules tied to an individual’s domicile. As part of the Autumn Budget package, the government published a set of documents, including: a TIIN, ‘ Reforming the taxation of non- UK domiciled individuals’; a technical note outlining the income tax, capital gains tax ( CGT) and IHT changes affecting UK-resident non-domiciliaries; and 103 pages of Draft Finance Bill measures. On 7 November 2024, Finance Bill 2025 ( FB 2025) was published along with explanatory notes, including the draft legislation which was published at Autumn Budget. FB 2025 received Royal Assent on 20 March 2025 and is now enacted as...
Practice Note This Practice Note consolidates coverage of fiscal developments across the 2026–27 tax year, beginning with the Spring Forecast 2026 on 3 March 2026. For further details about the Budget and Finance Bill procedures, and the broader fiscal schedule, consult Practice Note: The Budget and Finance Bill process for timetable information......
This Practice Note compiles material on fiscal events across the 2025–26 tax year, beginning with the Spring Statement 2025 on 26 March 2025. For further detail on the Budget and Finance Bill procedures, as well as the broader fiscal timetable, see Practice Note: The Budget and Finance Bill process. Spring Statement 2025 On 26 March 2025, the Chancellor of the Exchequer, Rachel Reeves, delivered the Spring Statement 2025 to Parliament. The government outlined consultations and policy papers on substantive and administrative tax measures and other prospective developments. For more on the announcements, see News Analyses: Video analysis— Spring Statement 2025: Private Client perspective Spring Statement 2025— Tax analysis Tax update spring 2025: simplification, administration and reform On 28 April 2025, the Exchequer Secretary to the Treasury, James Murray, issued a written ministerial statement setting out a package of measures to simplify and reform the tax system and improve tax...
ARCHIVED: This archived Practice Note draws together and compiles material on fiscal developments across the 2024–25 tax year, from the Spring Budget of 6 March 2024 through to the anticipated passage of Finance Bill 2024–25 in Parliament. For details on the yearly Budget and Finance Bill cycle, consult Practice Note: The Budget and Finance Bill process. Spring Budget 2024 The Spring Budget 2024 was presented by the Chancellor of the Exchequer, Jeremy Hunt, on Wednesday 6 March 2024......
Countless parents are shocked to learn how little real authority they retain over their child’s affairs once that child turns 18. Many firmly believe they will naturally be able to carry on handling their children’s matters after they reach the age of majority. Unfortunately, that is simply not so, and plenty of parents are often appalled to discover they must go through formal procedures to manage their child’s assets or assist them to access benefits. Some parents may have carefully set aside funds for their child’s future, only to realise that, at 18, those savings can swiftly lead to a loss of state benefits until the capital drops beneath the capital limits. Managing benefits and other assets There are two practical routes by which parents may often continue to help their child claim any state benefits they might be due. The first is to apply to be...
Taxation regime What factors determine tax liability in your jurisdiction (eg domicile, residence or citizenship)? Türkiye’s tax landscape is intricate, operating through numerous laws, regulations, communiqués and subsequent amendments. The key legislative instruments include: Tax Procedure Law No. 213 (10 January 1961) Corporate Tax Law No. 5520 (21 June 2006) Value Added Tax Law No. 3065 (2 November 1984) Stamp Tax Law No. 488 (11 July 1964) Income Tax Law No. 193 (6 January 1961) Broadly, the Turkish Tax System is considered under three headings: (i) income taxes, such as individual income tax and corporate income tax; (ii) taxes on expenditure, including Value Added Tax ( VAT), the Banking and Insurance Transactions Tax and Stamp Tax; and (iii) taxes on wealth, for example Property Tax and Inheritance and Gift Tax. For natural persons, residency, ownership of property and citizenship are key in determining which taxes apply in Türkiye. An...
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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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