My change would be to require HMRC to publish on its website a summary of each clearance that it grants (in a suitably anonymised form, approved by the taxpayer). This would build up an extensive body of publicly available material showing the issues where taxpayers had identified uncertainties in the tax law and sought clarity from HMRC. The published rulings would have a similar status to HMRC’s guidance manuals. Publication of HMRC clearances would help put all taxpayers on an equal footing (rather than just the applicant having the benefit of a clearance), save HMRC time responding to similar queries, promote consistency and increase certainty.
A few other suggestions which might make a difference: each Finance Bill to include the recommendations of professional tax bodies to fix glitches in the tax legislation, use of experienced law firms to help draft tax legislation (the standard of drafting of tax legislation from parliamentary draftsman is depressingly patchy) and compulsory training in tax for the chancellor of the exchequer and chief secretary to the Treasury!
Elliot Weston, Hogan Lovells
I am obviously biased, but I think everyone would benefit from having a greater understanding of the principles underpinning our tax system. I would therefore make the (hugely unpopular) change of introducing the basics of tax into the national curriculum. Tax has been in the mainstream media spotlight over recent years following the various information leaks and high profile Budget announcements, but much of the coverage is poorly informed. With a more knowledgeable voting population, the government might perhaps be discouraged from its current approach of introducing more and more complicated legislation which make for good headlines but add unnecessary complexity and costs, and very little revenue. Having said that, simpler legislation and subjecting teenagers to lessons on tax might risk bringing about the demise of the tax lawyer!
Serena Lee, Akin Gump.
With the introduction of the qualifying asset holding company regime, the UK government is seeking to promote the UK’s attractiveness as an ‘asset management hub’ and a place to invest through. But to give businesses and investors certainty you need a responsive and well-resourced tax authority. I think the teams at HMRC work very hard, but they are under-resourced and there is a huge backlog as a result of Covid-19. Basic administrative tasks such as registering entities for VAT or under the non-resident landlords scheme can take months (in one matter we’ve been working on, it’s taken a year) and this creates uncertainty.
Jessica Ganagasegaran, Greenberg Traurig
There are quite a few bad provisions out there but ITEPA 2003 s 222 (challenged unsuccessfully in Chilcott v HMRC [2010] EWCA Civ 1538) has to be one of the worst. I would simply alter it so that any tax charge is reversed if the employee does make good to the employer at any time. The issue is that any underlying liability is often unappreciated by the employer/employee until well after the 90 day time limit has expired and the employee has to make good in any event (under restitution) but still gets taxed as if the tax has been paid for them.
David Yates KC, Pump Court Tax Chambers
As an avid reader of ‘One minute with’ over the years, I always imagined myself answering this question with some sort of ‘humble brag’ about the inconvenient impact of some new and technical tax legislation on my incredibly complex deals. Now it comes down to it, my simple tax wish would be for same day stamping on stock transfer forms. You’re welcome!
Jemma Dick, Clifford Chance
I have been looking at the global minimum tax in my capacity as chair of the City of London Law Society’s Revenue Law Committee. It’s like the opposite of Lord Voldemort. Rather than having a name which everybody knows but is afraid to say, it has at least three names none of which anybody wants to use because they’re all a bit lame! Like FATCA, it is a riddle, wrapped in a mile-thick layer of clingfilm made from purest tedium, wrapped in a cluster bomb. Some say the problem with the minimum wage is that it becomes a sort of maximum wage. The global minimum tax includes its own summary global tax code and to the extent your country’s actual tax code deviates, the minimum tax can eat your lunch. It is not difficult to see it evolving into a de facto global tax code. Before that we might have a period of peak complexity.
Philip Harle, Hogan Lovells
Few in the corporate tax world will have failed to notice the Upper Tribunal’s decision in HMRC v BlackRock Holdco 5, LLC [2022] UKUT 199 (TCC). I anticipate there could be some push back from my corporate and banking colleagues from a practical perspective if we were to suggest that all intragroup loan arrangements – whether interest bearing or not – must be formalised in writing and include borrower covenants akin to those given to third party lenders (potentially spanning hundreds of pages) in response to the Upper Tribunal’s conclusions on the transfer pricing issue.
Jisun Choi, Skadden, Arps, Slate, Meagher & Flom
The biggest challenge in my job is understanding and balancing the needs of a diverse and evolving range of stakeholders. Their expectations on transparency and good governance continue to advance, and we try to stay ahead of them. We face continued disruption from the pandemic, as well as a range of other global challenges – such as digitalisation, climate change and geopolitical uncertainty – which makes it a fascinating time to be involved in tax policy, but also an incredibly busy one. Alongside all of this change, there are opportunities to improve the system. I am particularly interested in the OECD’s work on tax and development, specifically on tax morale. There is a great opportunity here to build trust in the tax system and create a virtuous circle of increased cooperative compliance practices that can give taxpayers and tax administrations alike more certainty.
Dave Murray, Anglo American
Arguably the court’s most important contribution to tax law has been its application of general principles, particularly effective protection of taxpayers’ rights. Introducing teleological or purposive interpretation to the UK courts, particularly in the VAT area, was also transformational.
More controversial is the court’s record on direct tax. I doubt that back in the 1980s the court appreciated the enormity of the challenge it would face. It started out with what in effect was an enhanced version of international tax principles, but then encountered trickier cases, particularly the outbound cases like cross-border loss relief, foreign dividend taxation and exit taxes. It had to refine the mantra ‘loss of revenue is no defence’ and was forced to invent novel principles. It has consequently struggled sometimes to find a coherent and consistent line, making its rulings less predictable. Ultimately, though, not tackling direct tax obstacles would have been a dereliction of duty.
Paul Farmer, Joseph Hage Aaronson
Seek professional satisfaction by following trails which genuinely interest you, even if they are less well trodden by others. For many years, I was heavily involved in providing tax services to UK professional firms. This expanded into a broader management remit including mergers, acquisitions and international expansion. There was a particular point when I recognised that the UK had the potential to become an Anglophone bridgehead for US law firms wishing to develop EU practices. However, with different – some would say incompatible – structures, regulation and tax systems in the affected jurisdictions, client firms urgently needed guidance. At the same time, LLPs were being created in the UK for the first time. The intellectual challenges were immense but following that trail led to one of the most rewarding periods of my professional life.
George Bull, formerly RSM UK
The most helpful lesson that I learnt, from John Barnett at Burges Salmon, was to look at the evolution and political and practical context of a tax rule in order to understand it fully. What was it intended to achieve and what were the practical reasons for its introduction and amendment? I have found that the meaning of the detailed legislation is much easier to discern once I have thought about it on a macro level. Having a simple conceptual vision of a tax rule also helps me to integrate several strands of legislation into a coherent plan, as well as to explain it clearly to clients.
Patrick Wooddisse, TLT
My editors and I appreciate quotes with punchy plain language that get to the point quickly. A colourful phrase or a fitting analogy can also work well.
Emma Agyemang, Financial Times
Areas to watch on the funds tax side include: the government’s response to the consultation on sovereign immunity from direct taxation, the BlueCrest appeals (both the appeal of the FTT decision relating to the salaried member rules and anticipated appeal, at least in part, of the UT decisions relating to partnership profit allocation and a partnership incentivisation plan), the proposed consultation on options to simplify the VAT treatment of fund management fees and the proposed amendments to the QAHC legislation. On the international side, I will also be watching developments in relation to the European Commission’s proposed ‘unshell’ directive (or ATAD III as it is commonly referred to) closely, given its impact on fund holding structures.
Rebecca Hill, Kirkland & Ellis
With the current chaos, who knows! I’m sure we’ll start to see some divergence from Europe on VAT rules, although for the time being that may be focused on raising income rather than reducing compliance, and it seems logical that we may also see some increase to CGT as it plays well to some of the galleries (although it rarely raises that much).
Kevin Lowe, Mills & Reeve
I enjoy running as a way of getting to know a city. Highlights have been Tokyo’s Meguro river in cherry blossom season, New York’s Central Park in the fall and now the brilliant new Benjakitti Forest Park in central Bangkok. I am looking forward to running along the river Thames again on my next visit to London.
Jonathan Stuart-Smith, Mazars
Despite ankle surgery, a series of broken arms, wrists and metatarsals and being only a week younger than Wayne Rooney I still harbour deluded and fading hopes of making it as a premiership footballer and enjoy playing five-a-side a couple of times a week. However, my colleagues (and teammates) are finally starting to convince me that the closest I am going to get to this world is reading about the recent HMRC focus on payments to football agents in Tax Journal!
Steve Quinn, Sidley Austin
To pass the time during lockdown, I started participating in a weekly online poker game with some former colleagues and other members of the profession (they know who they are!). This largely consisted of me trying to learn how to play poker whilst giving £10 each week to one of the other players. What have I learned? Don’t play cards with tax lawyers unless you can afford it!
Matthew Hodkin, Norton Rose Fulbright
My change would be to require HMRC to publish on its website a summary of each clearance that it grants (in a suitably anonymised form, approved by the taxpayer). This would build up an extensive body of publicly available material showing the issues where taxpayers had identified uncertainties in the tax law and sought clarity from HMRC. The published rulings would have a similar status to HMRC’s guidance manuals. Publication of HMRC clearances would help put all taxpayers on an equal footing (rather than just the applicant having the benefit of a clearance), save HMRC time responding to similar queries, promote consistency and increase certainty.
A few other suggestions which might make a difference: each Finance Bill to include the recommendations of professional tax bodies to fix glitches in the tax legislation, use of experienced law firms to help draft tax legislation (the standard of drafting of tax legislation from parliamentary draftsman is depressingly patchy) and compulsory training in tax for the chancellor of the exchequer and chief secretary to the Treasury!
Elliot Weston, Hogan Lovells
I am obviously biased, but I think everyone would benefit from having a greater understanding of the principles underpinning our tax system. I would therefore make the (hugely unpopular) change of introducing the basics of tax into the national curriculum. Tax has been in the mainstream media spotlight over recent years following the various information leaks and high profile Budget announcements, but much of the coverage is poorly informed. With a more knowledgeable voting population, the government might perhaps be discouraged from its current approach of introducing more and more complicated legislation which make for good headlines but add unnecessary complexity and costs, and very little revenue. Having said that, simpler legislation and subjecting teenagers to lessons on tax might risk bringing about the demise of the tax lawyer!
Serena Lee, Akin Gump.
With the introduction of the qualifying asset holding company regime, the UK government is seeking to promote the UK’s attractiveness as an ‘asset management hub’ and a place to invest through. But to give businesses and investors certainty you need a responsive and well-resourced tax authority. I think the teams at HMRC work very hard, but they are under-resourced and there is a huge backlog as a result of Covid-19. Basic administrative tasks such as registering entities for VAT or under the non-resident landlords scheme can take months (in one matter we’ve been working on, it’s taken a year) and this creates uncertainty.
Jessica Ganagasegaran, Greenberg Traurig
There are quite a few bad provisions out there but ITEPA 2003 s 222 (challenged unsuccessfully in Chilcott v HMRC [2010] EWCA Civ 1538) has to be one of the worst. I would simply alter it so that any tax charge is reversed if the employee does make good to the employer at any time. The issue is that any underlying liability is often unappreciated by the employer/employee until well after the 90 day time limit has expired and the employee has to make good in any event (under restitution) but still gets taxed as if the tax has been paid for them.
David Yates KC, Pump Court Tax Chambers
As an avid reader of ‘One minute with’ over the years, I always imagined myself answering this question with some sort of ‘humble brag’ about the inconvenient impact of some new and technical tax legislation on my incredibly complex deals. Now it comes down to it, my simple tax wish would be for same day stamping on stock transfer forms. You’re welcome!
Jemma Dick, Clifford Chance
I have been looking at the global minimum tax in my capacity as chair of the City of London Law Society’s Revenue Law Committee. It’s like the opposite of Lord Voldemort. Rather than having a name which everybody knows but is afraid to say, it has at least three names none of which anybody wants to use because they’re all a bit lame! Like FATCA, it is a riddle, wrapped in a mile-thick layer of clingfilm made from purest tedium, wrapped in a cluster bomb. Some say the problem with the minimum wage is that it becomes a sort of maximum wage. The global minimum tax includes its own summary global tax code and to the extent your country’s actual tax code deviates, the minimum tax can eat your lunch. It is not difficult to see it evolving into a de facto global tax code. Before that we might have a period of peak complexity.
Philip Harle, Hogan Lovells
Few in the corporate tax world will have failed to notice the Upper Tribunal’s decision in HMRC v BlackRock Holdco 5, LLC [2022] UKUT 199 (TCC). I anticipate there could be some push back from my corporate and banking colleagues from a practical perspective if we were to suggest that all intragroup loan arrangements – whether interest bearing or not – must be formalised in writing and include borrower covenants akin to those given to third party lenders (potentially spanning hundreds of pages) in response to the Upper Tribunal’s conclusions on the transfer pricing issue.
Jisun Choi, Skadden, Arps, Slate, Meagher & Flom
The biggest challenge in my job is understanding and balancing the needs of a diverse and evolving range of stakeholders. Their expectations on transparency and good governance continue to advance, and we try to stay ahead of them. We face continued disruption from the pandemic, as well as a range of other global challenges – such as digitalisation, climate change and geopolitical uncertainty – which makes it a fascinating time to be involved in tax policy, but also an incredibly busy one. Alongside all of this change, there are opportunities to improve the system. I am particularly interested in the OECD’s work on tax and development, specifically on tax morale. There is a great opportunity here to build trust in the tax system and create a virtuous circle of increased cooperative compliance practices that can give taxpayers and tax administrations alike more certainty.
Dave Murray, Anglo American
Arguably the court’s most important contribution to tax law has been its application of general principles, particularly effective protection of taxpayers’ rights. Introducing teleological or purposive interpretation to the UK courts, particularly in the VAT area, was also transformational.
More controversial is the court’s record on direct tax. I doubt that back in the 1980s the court appreciated the enormity of the challenge it would face. It started out with what in effect was an enhanced version of international tax principles, but then encountered trickier cases, particularly the outbound cases like cross-border loss relief, foreign dividend taxation and exit taxes. It had to refine the mantra ‘loss of revenue is no defence’ and was forced to invent novel principles. It has consequently struggled sometimes to find a coherent and consistent line, making its rulings less predictable. Ultimately, though, not tackling direct tax obstacles would have been a dereliction of duty.
Paul Farmer, Joseph Hage Aaronson
Seek professional satisfaction by following trails which genuinely interest you, even if they are less well trodden by others. For many years, I was heavily involved in providing tax services to UK professional firms. This expanded into a broader management remit including mergers, acquisitions and international expansion. There was a particular point when I recognised that the UK had the potential to become an Anglophone bridgehead for US law firms wishing to develop EU practices. However, with different – some would say incompatible – structures, regulation and tax systems in the affected jurisdictions, client firms urgently needed guidance. At the same time, LLPs were being created in the UK for the first time. The intellectual challenges were immense but following that trail led to one of the most rewarding periods of my professional life.
George Bull, formerly RSM UK
The most helpful lesson that I learnt, from John Barnett at Burges Salmon, was to look at the evolution and political and practical context of a tax rule in order to understand it fully. What was it intended to achieve and what were the practical reasons for its introduction and amendment? I have found that the meaning of the detailed legislation is much easier to discern once I have thought about it on a macro level. Having a simple conceptual vision of a tax rule also helps me to integrate several strands of legislation into a coherent plan, as well as to explain it clearly to clients.
Patrick Wooddisse, TLT
My editors and I appreciate quotes with punchy plain language that get to the point quickly. A colourful phrase or a fitting analogy can also work well.
Emma Agyemang, Financial Times
Areas to watch on the funds tax side include: the government’s response to the consultation on sovereign immunity from direct taxation, the BlueCrest appeals (both the appeal of the FTT decision relating to the salaried member rules and anticipated appeal, at least in part, of the UT decisions relating to partnership profit allocation and a partnership incentivisation plan), the proposed consultation on options to simplify the VAT treatment of fund management fees and the proposed amendments to the QAHC legislation. On the international side, I will also be watching developments in relation to the European Commission’s proposed ‘unshell’ directive (or ATAD III as it is commonly referred to) closely, given its impact on fund holding structures.
Rebecca Hill, Kirkland & Ellis
With the current chaos, who knows! I’m sure we’ll start to see some divergence from Europe on VAT rules, although for the time being that may be focused on raising income rather than reducing compliance, and it seems logical that we may also see some increase to CGT as it plays well to some of the galleries (although it rarely raises that much).
Kevin Lowe, Mills & Reeve
I enjoy running as a way of getting to know a city. Highlights have been Tokyo’s Meguro river in cherry blossom season, New York’s Central Park in the fall and now the brilliant new Benjakitti Forest Park in central Bangkok. I am looking forward to running along the river Thames again on my next visit to London.
Jonathan Stuart-Smith, Mazars
Despite ankle surgery, a series of broken arms, wrists and metatarsals and being only a week younger than Wayne Rooney I still harbour deluded and fading hopes of making it as a premiership footballer and enjoy playing five-a-side a couple of times a week. However, my colleagues (and teammates) are finally starting to convince me that the closest I am going to get to this world is reading about the recent HMRC focus on payments to football agents in Tax Journal!
Steve Quinn, Sidley Austin
To pass the time during lockdown, I started participating in a weekly online poker game with some former colleagues and other members of the profession (they know who they are!). This largely consisted of me trying to learn how to play poker whilst giving £10 each week to one of the other players. What have I learned? Don’t play cards with tax lawyers unless you can afford it!
Matthew Hodkin, Norton Rose Fulbright
