Blog Archives

ILN Today Post
September 27, 2017

Tax and the gig economy

By Fladgate LLP of Fladgate LLP

The ‘gig economy’ has been very much in the news in recent months. While much of the political attention has been focused on the employment effects of this phenomenon, the implications for UK tax are wide-ranging and hugely significant.

What is the gig economy?

The name refers to the general trend of workers using an online platform to source small on-demand pieces of work (gigs) for which they are paid on a self-employed basis, rather than working for a typical employer. A related development is the sharing economy (generating income by the sharing of assets such as through Airbnb).

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Posted in Europe | Legal Updates
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ILN Today Post
September 21, 2017

Internal investigations and the limits of privilege

By Fladgate LLP of Fladgate LLP

The High Court recently ruled, in a landmark case brought by the Serious Fraud Office (SFO), that the Eurasian Natural Resources Corporation (ENRC) must hand over documents generated by an internal investigation by the company, including notes taken by lawyers of interviews with ENRC’s employees.

The SFO’s application was made in the course of its ongoing criminal investigation relating to ENRC’s activities in Kazakhstan and Africa. As part of its investigation, the SFO sought to compel ENRC to produce a range of documents which ENRC claimed were protected by litigation privilege. However, ENRC’s argument failed at the first hurdle.

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Posted in Europe | Legal Updates
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September 21, 2017

Can you disinherit your children if you want to?

By Helena Luckhurst of Fladgate LLP

You may recall that, a couple of years ago, the English press was full of reports of the Will case of Ilott v Mitson.  (For some background on the case, see my 2015 and 2017 blogs about it.) 

The case was of interest to any testator who is considering cutting out children from their Will.  However the Ilott case has now been applied in the more recent case of Nahajec v Fowle [2017] EW Misc 11 (CC), in which another impecunious child applied to the court and was successful in obtaining provision from her father’s estate, contrary to her father’s express wish that she should receive nothing.  So what can the Nahajec case teach us about whether it is possible, even, for parents to successfully exclude adult children from receiving any inheritance from them?
Posted in Europe | Legal Updates
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ILN Today Post
September 12, 2017

Motivating and rewarding key employees through share-based incentives

By Fladgate LLP of Fladgate LLP

There are various ways to motivate and reward key employees through share-based incentives.

The optimum structure for any given company will depend on its specific circumstances and commercial objectives.

Enterprise Management Incentive (EMI) option plans are widely recognised as an attractive and very tax efficient structure and are therefore the first port of call for many of our clients.

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Posted in Europe | Legal Updates
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ILN Today Post
September 12, 2017

IHT Residence Nil Rate Band: depending on downsizing?

By Fladgate LLP of Fladgate LLP

This article is taken from Helena Luckhurst’s blog The Wealth Lawyer UK

HMRC have published new guidance covering the downsizing provisions of the Residence Nil Rate Band (RNRB) (click here for a link to it). This will be of interest to advisers looking for a relatively straightforward introduction to this aspect of the RNRB which may be suitable for forwarding on to clients.

Whenever individuals interested in their IHT planning downsize, gift or sell a property, the impact on the availability of the RNRB should be considered.

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Posted in Europe | Legal Updates
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ILN Today Post
September 12, 2017

The risk of uninsured risks

By Fladgate LLP of Fladgate LLP

Almost all leases include an obligation on the landlord to insure the building.  The main reason for this is that the landlord has a capital interest in the building and wants to control its state of repair by way of insurance and service charge rent.  Additionally, where the building has several tenants, it is far simpler for the landlord to arrange the insurance than to leave it to the various tenants.  The lease will list the ‘insured risks’ which the landlord has an obligation to insure against.  These will include the standard risks such as fire, explosion, storm, impact by vehicles or planes, etc.  In a fully repairing and insuring (FRI) lease, the tenant has an obligation to keep the property in good (and substantial) repair and condition, but this will usually exclude any damage caused by an insured risk.  This means that if the property is damaged by an insured risk, the tenant does not need to repair the damage (which is only fair seeing as the tenant is paying the insurance premium and otherwise would effectively be paying twice), the landlord must reinstate and the rent under the lease is suspended until the property has been reinstated.

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Posted in Europe | Legal Updates
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September 7, 2017

IHT Residence Nil Rate Band: depending on downsizing?

By Helena Luckhurst of Fladgate LLP
HMRC have published new guidance covering the downsizing provisions of the Residence Nil Rate Band (RNRB) (click here for a link to it).  This will be of interest to advisers looking for a relatively straightforward introduction to this aspect of the RNRB which may be suitable for forwarding on to clients.
Posted in Europe | Legal Updates
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ILN Today Post
August 31, 2017

How to help your non-dom clients with IHT

By Fladgate LLP of Fladgate LLP

They say change brings opportunity, so the optimists among you can rejoice (maybe) because, thanks to the present government, a whole new range of clients need your advice (perhaps).

Why the equivocation? Well, until recently, it seemed certain that changes affecting the taxation of non-UK domiciliaries (non-doms), which were included in the March 2017 version of the Finance Bill 2017, would come into effect on 6 April 2017, as planned.

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Posted in Europe | Legal Updates
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ILN Today Post
August 31, 2017

Getting Neymar moving: the legal framework of a soccer transfer

By Fladgate LLP of Fladgate LLP
With Neymar’s world record move from Barcelona to PSG just one of a host of big-money soccer transfers this summer, Fladgate’s Alan Wetterhahn and James Earl explain the legal processes that make a deal happen.
The numbers are mind-boggling. And that was the case even before Paris Saint-Germain paid a world record fee of €222 million for the Brazilian superstar Neymar Jr. And it is so far so good for the forward, who has scored three goals in the two matches he has played for his new club.

Who said money can’t buy you love?

When any business pays for any asset – and, make no mistake, Neymar is an asset in many senses of the word – the paperwork is sure to follow and it is no different in football where the amounts involved are getting larger every year.

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ILN Today Post
August 31, 2017

Japanese knotweed: The nightmare neighbour

By Fladgate LLP of Fladgate LLP

The damage that Japanese knotweed can cause has been highly publicised over recent years. Growing by up to 10cm a day, it quickly covers land above ground, and has the potential to spread widely underground. It is said to spread beneath the foundations of properties and compromise their structure; it can cause cracks, undermine garden walls with shallow foundations, and even push over insubstantial outbuildings.  While some may argue that the damage it is alleged to cause is something of an urban myth, professional guidance nonetheless does suggest that all ground within 7m of Japanese knotweed should be considered blighted. For that reason, lenders will often refuse to lend against a property where Japanese knotweed is found within such close proximity. Proper remediation to eradicate the knotweed can take years, and is extremely costly.

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Posted in Europe | Legal Updates
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