One minute with... Elizabeth Bradley, head of corporate tax at Berwin Leighton Paisner
Tell us about your work as the head of corporate tax group at BLP.
I’ve had the pleasure of leading the corporate tax group at BLP for almost two years. We have an excellent team of tax lawyers, with a rich mixture of experts from a variety of different backgrounds, balanced with some very talented home-grown lawyers at all levels of seniority. We have expertise across the full spectrum of contentious and non-contentious tax issues. We are well known for our tax expertise in real estate and investment funds.
What sets the team apart from those at other law firms?
The short answer is: our largest and broadest tax practice in the City, our international scope and our full-service capability.
Our corporate tax team works closely with our market-leading private client team, which concentrates on ultra-high net worth individuals, family offices and financial institutions all over the world.
If you could make one change to a tax law or practice, what would it be?
To have consistent scrutiny of new legislation to ensure that tax policy is correctly translated into legislation, hits the mark, but does not overshoot. Generally, stakeholders are given the opportunity to comment on new legislation, but there are exceptions, a recent example being the new legislation on offshore developers of UK real estate. It will be effective from the date that the legislation was first published, which was at the Committee Stage of the Finance Bill. There was no draft legislation and then it was approved by the committee within two days. A separate issue is sufficient Parliamentary scrutiny of new tax legislation.
Which recent tax case has caught your eye?
The recent CJEU decision in Brisal and KBC vs Fazenda Pública is of interest whether or not the UK remains subject to the EU fundamental freedoms post-Brexit. It says that a member state cannot impose withholding tax on interest on a gross basis where a resident lender would pay tax (even at a higher rate) on a net basis after deducting financing costs. Aside from the potential for affected taxpayers to seek tax refunds, there is the issue of how the landscape of withholding tax on intra-EU lending will shape up in the future. For those member states that impose withholding tax and do not provide an exemption under the relevant tax treaty with the UK, will UK lenders be at a disadvantage to EU lenders post-Brexit?
What are the immediate tax concerns post-Brexit?
An immediate task for multinationals will be to assess any tax leakage on the payment of dividends, interest or royalties to or from a UK resident company. If the UK no longer benefits from the Parent-Subsidiary Directive or Interest and Royalties Directive, is a UK head-quartered group or an EU group with UK subsidiaries, worse off or still protected by a double tax treaty? Withholding tax is not the only issue. Attention also needs to be given to the dividend participation exemption for dividends paid by a UK company: are the rules different according to whether the payer is resident in the EU?
For the government, an immediate concern should be whether it is wise to jump the gun and press ahead with implementing the restrictions on interest deductions ahead of other countries. This is a time of great uncertainty when the UK’s competitiveness is at risk.
Looking back on your career to date, what key lessons have you learned?
Be focused, driven and set realistic goals. Believe in yourself and never give up.
One minute with... Elizabeth Bradley, head of corporate tax at Berwin Leighton Paisner
Tell us about your work as the head of corporate tax group at BLP.
I’ve had the pleasure of leading the corporate tax group at BLP for almost two years. We have an excellent team of tax lawyers, with a rich mixture of experts from a variety of different backgrounds, balanced with some very talented home-grown lawyers at all levels of seniority. We have expertise across the full spectrum of contentious and non-contentious tax issues. We are well known for our tax expertise in real estate and investment funds.
What sets the team apart from those at other law firms?
The short answer is: our largest and broadest tax practice in the City, our international scope and our full-service capability.
Our corporate tax team works closely with our market-leading private client team, which concentrates on ultra-high net worth individuals, family offices and financial institutions all over the world.
If you could make one change to a tax law or practice, what would it be?
To have consistent scrutiny of new legislation to ensure that tax policy is correctly translated into legislation, hits the mark, but does not overshoot. Generally, stakeholders are given the opportunity to comment on new legislation, but there are exceptions, a recent example being the new legislation on offshore developers of UK real estate. It will be effective from the date that the legislation was first published, which was at the Committee Stage of the Finance Bill. There was no draft legislation and then it was approved by the committee within two days. A separate issue is sufficient Parliamentary scrutiny of new tax legislation.
Which recent tax case has caught your eye?
The recent CJEU decision in Brisal and KBC vs Fazenda Pública is of interest whether or not the UK remains subject to the EU fundamental freedoms post-Brexit. It says that a member state cannot impose withholding tax on interest on a gross basis where a resident lender would pay tax (even at a higher rate) on a net basis after deducting financing costs. Aside from the potential for affected taxpayers to seek tax refunds, there is the issue of how the landscape of withholding tax on intra-EU lending will shape up in the future. For those member states that impose withholding tax and do not provide an exemption under the relevant tax treaty with the UK, will UK lenders be at a disadvantage to EU lenders post-Brexit?
What are the immediate tax concerns post-Brexit?
An immediate task for multinationals will be to assess any tax leakage on the payment of dividends, interest or royalties to or from a UK resident company. If the UK no longer benefits from the Parent-Subsidiary Directive or Interest and Royalties Directive, is a UK head-quartered group or an EU group with UK subsidiaries, worse off or still protected by a double tax treaty? Withholding tax is not the only issue. Attention also needs to be given to the dividend participation exemption for dividends paid by a UK company: are the rules different according to whether the payer is resident in the EU?
For the government, an immediate concern should be whether it is wise to jump the gun and press ahead with implementing the restrictions on interest deductions ahead of other countries. This is a time of great uncertainty when the UK’s competitiveness is at risk.
Looking back on your career to date, what key lessons have you learned?
Be focused, driven and set realistic goals. Believe in yourself and never give up.
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