Tax and the City Review for November 2019

In Panayi, the FTT decides conforming construction of UK legislation to make it compatible with EU law is possible even where the Tribunal has to choose between different potential deferral methods, in contrast with the approach previously taken by a different FTT judge in Gallaher. The UK is rated the 8th best place to do business in the world and moves up one place to 25th in the latest International Tax Competitiveness Index, but a PwC report for UK Finance shows a decline in the fiscal competitiveness of the UK for banking business relative to other global financial centres. In the Irish Bank case, the Upper Tribunal finds in favour of HMRC that the attribution of notional capital to a permanent establishment as required by UK law (rather than looking at actual capital) is compatible with the terms of the UK/Republic of Ireland tax treaty. Regulations are laid before Parliament to be made by the end of the year to make technical changes to the offshore receipts in respect of intangible property rules to avoid unintended consequences.

This article was first published in the 8 November 2019 edition of Tax Journal.

Tax and the City Review - November 2019