Tax News: April 2024

In this podcast, Zoe Andrews and Tanja Velling discuss the Court of Appeal’s decision in Prudential on the interaction between the VAT grouping and time of supply rules, and the Upper Tribunal’s decisions in Beard (which followed First Nationwide in holding that a distribution by a Jersey company out of share premium was an income dividend) and Sehgal which considered the remittance basis rules in the context of a transaction undertaken in lieu of an indemnity payment under a share purchase agreement. The podcast also covers certain measures included in the Spring Finance Bill, most notably draft legislation to reverse the Supreme Court’s decision in Fisher (which rejected HMRC’s argument that, where a company makes a transfer, the shareholders could be treated as quasi-transferors for the purpose of the transfer of assets abroad rules). Zoe and Tanja further touch on the UK’s proposed carbon border adjustment mechanism and HMRC’s updated guidance on aspects of the new R&D relief regime. In terms of international tax topics, the podcast features the UK’s planned introduction of an anti-abuse rule to prevent the exploitation of the CbCR transitional safe harbour under Pillar Two and the OECD’s Sixth Peer Review Report on the Prevention of Tax Treaty Abuse.