Commercial Client
Administration of Troncs
The long-running series of disputes between employers in the hospitality industry and HM Revenue and Customs (HMRC) concerning the taxation of employees’ tips and their National Insurance (NI) status seems to have been concluded...Advice on Acquisitions Deductible
One common area of dispute between companies and the HM Revenue and Customs (HMRC) is that of deductibility of expenses. One of the hottest areas of dispute is often whether an expense is a trading expense (deductible as part of the day-to-day running costs...Age Discrimination - Be Prepared
There are currently 20 million people aged 50 and over in the UK and the figure is expected to reach 27 million by 2030. On 1 October 2006, the Employment Equality (Age) Regulations came into effect. This legislation makes it unlawful to...Are You Data Friendly
Many businesses regard the Data Protection Act 1998 as something that merely requires a lot of form filling and the payment of fees, but there is a lot more to it than that. The purpose of the Act is to protect a person's right to...Business Property Relief - More Traps for the Unwary
Most business people know that for family businesses there are generous Inheritance Tax (IHT) reliefs, which generally operate to make assets used in the business exempt or partially exempt from IHT. The reliefs take various forms, but are collectively known...Business Tenancies What is a Business
The question as to what sort of organisations can be regarded as businesses came before the courts in a case involving a not-for-profit company which had failed to give the required notices to protect their tenancy under the Landlord and Tenant Act 1954....Can We Stop Them
Restrictive covenants (clauses which are normally found in contracts of employment and partnership agreements, which restrict the right of a person to compete with his or her firm) have always been a difficult area of law. The courts are able to...Changes to Family Friendly Legislation
The Work and Families Act introduces measures intended to give more choice to families attempting to balance work and caring responsibilities. It imposes significant new obligations on employers. The period of statutory maternity...Changes to Statutory Disciplinary and Grievance Procedures
The Government is keen to promote alternative ways of settling workplace disputes. Since October 2004, employers and employees have been required to follow statutory minimum procedures to make sure that disputes are discussed at work. Not only...Collecting Your Debts - a Brief Guide
If a business cannot recover a debt from a customer after the normal credit control procedures are exhausted then it will need to consider taking further action to recover the sum due. Mediation with the debtor, involving negotiation through a third party,...Company Formation Checklist
You may have come across advertisements which make forming a company sound very easy, but before you go ahead there are some serious issues to think through. If you have decided that a company is the best vehicle for your new venture then here is a...Compensation for Loss of Light
Following a recent case in which a dispute regarding a property owner’s right to light was unexpectedly dealt with by the granting of an injunction against a developer, a more recent case has offered guidance on how much compensation might be payable...Compromise Agreements - Tax Position Clarified
A compromise agreement is an agreement made between an employer and an employee who is having their contract of employment terminated. It sets out the terms under which the termination will take place and contains a provision that the employee will receive a...Considering Outsourcing
These days more and more processes are being outsourced (run by external contractors under a service agreement) by more and more businesses. It is particularly common to outsource IT functions and telephone call management. Outsourcing can offer many...Contractors Are Your Responsibility
A handbook produced by the Health and Safety Executive (HSE) outlines the responsibilities of both the contractor and the client in situations in which work is carried out by contractors rather then employees. It does not apply to circumstances in which...Data Loss - What to Do
The Information Commissioners Office (ICO) has recently issued guidance for organisations that lose personal data, having reported that it has been notified of nearly 100 such incidents to date. One of the less intuitively obvious...Data Protection Guidance for Landlords
The Information Commissioner's best practice guide for landlords - written to to assist them in complying with the Data Protection Act can be downloaded from the Information Commissioner’s website . The guide includes a checklist which is intended to...Dealing With Subject Access Requests
The Data Protection Act 1998 gives individuals the right to access information held about them by organisations. The Act governs how organisations can use the personal information they hold – including how they acquire, store, share or dispose of it. ...Direct Marketing Via E-mail - Regulations
UK law relating to the sending of unsolicited direct marketing material by electronic means care based on the EC Directive on Privacy and Electronic Communications. A major aim of the Directive was to cut down on the amount of...Directors Who Compete Face Court Wrath
The courts have again shown that they will crack down on directors who put their own interests before their fiduciary duties as directors of the company, to the extent of causing it detriment. In the case of British Midland Tool Ltd. v Midland...Directors' Duties Under the 2006 Companies Act
The Companies Act 2006 was designed to modernise British company law, making it ‘fit for purpose’ for the 21 st Century. In particular, there are several changes which affect directors. As of 1 October 2007, the...E-Commerce Law - Do You Comply
The Electronic Commerce (EC Directive) Regulations introduced specific legislation to underpin e-commerce. If your business has an Internet presence then you need to make sure that you are not falling foul of these new rules. The...Email - Who Owns the Copyright?
Copyright is a right which exists without any specific steps having to be taken. It applies whenever there is a work created which contains original skill or labour. It applies to written material and that includes email, as a recent High Court ruling has...Email Regulations for Businesses
Although it has long been regarded as best practice, new regulations have made it compulsory for certain business information to be present on corporate websites and e-mails or other electronic communications, including invoices and order forms. ...Email and Copyright
Copyright is a right which exists without any specific steps having to be taken. It applies whenever there is a work created which contains original skill or labour. It applies to written material and that includes email, as a recent High Court...Employee Fraud
Fraud is estimated to cost the UK economy between £13 billion and £16 billion a year and fraud by employees accounts for sixty per cent of all frauds committed against business. In a study by Leicester University, over seventy per cent of...Employee Fraud Update
Employee fraud continues to rise -however, the Fraud Act 2006, convictions for fraud are more easily obtained than they were under the predecessor legislation. Under the old legislation, obtaining a conviction for fraud was...Entrepreneur's Relief - the Basics
From 6 April 2008 disposals of qualifying businesses and business assets have been eligible for Entrepreneurs’ Relief. In simple terms, it allows business owners to reduce their Capital Gains Tax liability to the equivalent of 10...False Claims on a CV - What to Do
According to research by the Risk Advisory Group, more than half of CVs submitted by job applicants contain lies or inaccuracies. These range from gaps in employment history to false claims regarding qualifications and failure to mention fraud committed...Financial Fraud - What Not to Do!
With recent surveys showing that instances of employee fraud are still on the increase, and HMRC showing regrettable lack of ability to safeguard personal data, eliminating poor security practices which make fraud easier is becoming even more important....Freedom of Information - What it Means in Practice
The Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) 2000 came fully into force on 1 January 2005 and it has serious implications for businesses doing business with the public sector. The reason for this is that because one of the aims of the Act is to engender greater...HMRC Change Policy on Fraud
HM Revenue and Customs (HMRC) have announced that they no longer intend to follow the procedure laid out in Code of Practice 9 for investigating cases of civil evasion of taxes (‘tax or VAT fraud’) where the sums of money involved are small. ...How Safe is Business Cash?
The Government has recently raised the guarantee on deposits to £50,000 (from £35,000), but what does this mean for a business with substantial cash balances? The Financial Services Compensation Scheme (FSCS) is designed to...How To Do Strategic Review
Most businesses have some sort of business plan, even if it is only or a few lines on one sheet of paper. Larger businesses may have a formal business plan, which charts out the expected development of the business over the next few years in a systematic and...IHT and Small Business
Inheritance Tax (IHT) is payable on a deceased person’s estate at 40 per cent above £312,000 (2008/9) – the current nil rate band. However, business property is treated differently from personal property and may qualify for Business...Immigration and the Points-Based System
Under the Points Based System (PBS) for immigration most people applying to come to or remain in the UK to work or study who are not nationals of the European Economic Area (EEA) or Swiss nationals will require a certificate of sponsorship from a...In Brief: ACAS E-learning Guides
The Advisory, Conciliation and Arbitration Service (ACAS) now has ten electronic learning guides available on its website. The topics are • bullying and harassment; • managing absence in the workplace; ...Intellectual Property: Who Owns It
One of the biggest sources of disputes in industries based on innovation is a difference of opinion about who owns the intellectual property (IP) created in terms of designs, software, processes and systems. This is a general guide for...Is Your Website Disability-Friendly?
The British Standards Institution has published (at £30) new guidance on making sure that your website is disability-friendly. Under the Disability Discrimination Act , it is unlawful for a service provider to discriminate against a disabled person by...It Wasn't in the Contract
A common problem in contract disputes is that matters that create disagreement are sometimes not referred to specifically in the contract. However, as well as the express terms of a contract, there are also terms that are implied that is, they apply without...Landlord's Repairs and Loss of Trade
One of the continuing sources of friction between landlords and tenants is the maintenance of buildings. Normally, the arguments are over inadequate maintenance, but a recent case dealt with problems which arose when a landlord repaired a building occupied...Landlords and the Disability Discrimination Act
The Disability Discrimination Act 1995 (DDA) – which was amended in 2005 – has caused concern amongst the owners of let properties for some time because of uncertainty as to the limits of their responsibilities to make the properties they let...Late Payment and Material Breach
Recent guidance has been given by the High Court on what constitutes a ‘material breach’ of a contract and the circumstances necessary for late payment to be regarded as serious enough to justify the termination of a contract. ...Leases - New Code of Practice
A new code of practice for commercial leases has been released following a long consultation exercise involving landlords and other interested parties. The code makes a number of changes to the substance and detail of current...Letters of Intent - Getting Them Right
What Is a Letter of Intent? Letters of intent, commonly referred to as "heads of agreement", are used to indicate the terms under which two or more people intend to enter into a contractual relationship when doing business...Loan Guarantee Scheme - How it Works
1 December 2005 saw a relaxation of the rules for qualification for the Government’s Small Firm Loan Guarantee scheme (SFLG), aimed at giving further assistance to small- and medium-sized firms in overcoming obstacles to obtaining finance. ...M&S Whisleblower Dismissal - Who is Right?
In early September Marks & Spencer (M&S) dismissed an employee who had disclosed the company's redundancy plans to "The Times" two weeks earlier. The employee's union, the GMB, confirmed that the man had been dismissed for gross misconduct...Making Training Costs Tax Deductible
Most business owners and managers think that training costs aimed at improving skills or business profits automatically qualify for tax relief, but that is not necessarily the case. The complexities of the UK tax system mean that the availability of tax...Making Waivers of Dividends Work
When a company is set up, it is common to divide the shares in it in approximately equal proportions amongst the subscribers. Whether or not this proves to be the most...Mixed Premises Legal Status
Living ‘above the shop’ is quite common in the small business sector and where the premises are rented, the lease will cover both the business and residential parts of the property. However, the statutory basis for repossession is quite different...Mobile Phones and Tax: Hands-Free Kits
It is well known that when an employer provides a mobile phone to an employee, there is no benefit in kind charge as long as the phone remains the property of the employer. The same rule can apply when the employer pays for a mobile phone 'hands-free' kit...Money Laundering Regulations
Money laundering is the process by which criminals turn their 'dirty' income – which is usually earned in cash – into 'clean' money, by undertaking transactions which hide the original source of the cash and/or turn the cash into 'legitimate...New Contract, New Danger
Every business needs customers, but every customer, especially a new one, represents a risk to your business. It is a very serious issue but there are many things you can do to make sure that you increase your chances of getting paid. Clearly,...Optional Errors
People who want to buy a property but do not currently have the means to do so, or who simply want to be guaranteed the opportunity to buy it during a specified period or at some future date, will often undertake an option agreement with the owner. Under such...Options and Pre-emption Rights
Prospective purchasers and vendors of land frequently wish to ‘lock in’ the other party to the deal and the means by which this is done will normally involve the prospective vendor either giving the prospective purchaser an option to purchase the...Outsourcing the Processing of Personal Information - Guidance
The Information Commissioner’s Office has issued a good practice note giving guidance on how to comply with the Data Protection Act 1998 (DPA) when you outsource the processing of personal information, such as your payroll function or customer mailing...Patent Dispute Resolution Service
The UK Intellectual Property Office (formerly the Patent Office) offers a dispute resolution service which is aimed at preventing unnecessary litigation over patent disputes. The new opinions service allows anyone to request an opinion...Paying for Employee Training
It is well known that the rules regarding expenses that are allowed as deductions from income for tax purposes are far stricter for employees than they are for the self-employed. The relevant legislation gives a self-employed person the right to make a tax...Pension Scheme Deficits Action Plan
In accordance with the Pensions Act 2004 all defined benefit schemes must have regular actuarial valuations to ensure that the scheme meets the ‘Statutory Funding Objective’ (SFO). To ensure SFO compliance, the...Pension Schemes and Age Discrimination
The parts of the Employment Equality (Age) Regulations 2006 that apply to pension schemes came into force on 1 December 2006. The Regulations prohibit age-related discrimination and harassment, allowing discriminatory treatment...Protecting Your Design Rights
Protecting intellectual property has always been a complex area of law, but in one specific area things may be getting clearer. The Registered Designs Regulations 2001 include several protections for inventors of designs. If you have a...Real Estate Investment Trusts
The Government recently published its draft legislation on Real Estate Investment Trusts (REITs), which will be companies listed on the stock exchange which carry out a ‘qualifying property letting business’. Already, in his latest budget, the...Recruitment - Preventing Illegal Working Without Discrimination
Hardly a day goes by without there being some mention of illegal immigration in the news. The number of people discovered working here unlawfully has risen sharply in recent years. There has been much talk of the possible introduction of a...Registry Decisions Do Not Bind Court
The decision in the 2006 case involving L’Oréal, in which the cosmetics giant was rebuffed in its attempt to prevent a smaller producer, called Special Effects, bringing to the market products which could be confused with...Remedies for Breach of Contract
Having the right contract is always a good idea, but no matter how much protection it offers, no contract can prevent a breach of contract by the other party. If you enter into a contract and it is breached, there are several possible remedies available to...Rent Arrears Protocol
Since October 2006, a revised protocol has applied where a social landlord wishes to gain possession of a property occupied by a tenant under a secure tenancy, where possession is sought on the grounds of arrears of rent. It does not apply to claims in...Retirement Planning and Your Business
It is arguable that the whole point of any business should be to enable the owners to retire when they want and with the lifestyle they want on retirement. Of course, enjoying it as you go along is a good idea too, but retirement comes to most of us...Right to Buy - Can Tenants Buy Their Commercial Property?
A recent decision of the House of Lords may have opened the door for thousands of tenants of offices and other properties originally designed to be used as homes to be given the right to buy their properties. The Leasehold...Stamp Duty Land Tax: Beginner's Guide
Stamp Duty Land Tax (SDLT) is a self-assessed tax. The onus is on the taxpayer to make the necessary land transaction return, calculate the tax and pay it across. This is a fundamental change. The old Stamp Duty regime taxed documents, so it was...Tackling Work-Related Stress
Research commissioned by the Health and Safety Executive (HSE) indicates that about half a million people in the UK experience work-related stress at a level they believe is affecting their health. In addition, up to five million people feel "very"...Tax Disclosure Rules Tighten
UK tax law is almost unique in that it contains regulations which require professionals to advise HM Revenue and Customs (HMRC) of information regarding tax avoidance schemes (TAS). Failure to comply can lead to a penalty of up to £5,000 plus...Tax Free Perks
The Government has continuously sought to limit the tax free perks that businesses can provide for their employees. However, there are some remaining. Here is an update on some of those still available. Childcare ...The Control of Asbestos Regulations 2006
Owners and managers of commercial premises, employers whose workers use, install, remove, maintain or demolish premises that may contain asbestos and businesses providing construction or building services are all affected by the Control...The Eight Data Protection Principles
Anyone processing personal data must comply with the eight enforceable principles of good practice. Here is a checklist. Data must be: fairly and lawfully processed; processed for...The New Insolvency Regime
In September 2003, the insolvency provisions of the Enterprise Act 2002 came into force, bringing in a new regime for dealing with insolvencies. The main features of the new rules are: a streamlined procedure for...Unfair Dismissal and Illegality
It is an established principle of law that illegal contracts are unenforceable. In a recent case, the Sheffield Employment Tribunal (ET) refused to allow a claim for unfair dismissal brought by a woman who had been employed for three years as a chef in a Thai...VAT - Place of Supply of Services
With different rates of value-added tax (VAT) applying throughout Europe, the place that a supply is made (and hence the VAT rate which is applicable) can be a very important matter. The basic 'place of supply' rule is that in normal...VATand Electronic Goods - Take Care
In order to combat ‘missing trader’ fraud, which is estimated to have cost the Exchequer hundreds of millions of pounds, HM Revenue and Customs (HMRC) have introduced measures which can, in some circumstances, make a supplier (or customer)...What Do You Pay for Work After the Contract Ends?
It is very common, especially with building contracts, for work to be needed to be done by contractors after the expiry of the original contract. Recently, a case came to court in which a company that had obtained work under tender for Brunel University...What is Personal Data?
The Definition of Personal Data is contained in s1 of the Data Protection Act 1991. Personal Data is data that relates to a living individual who can be identified from the data or from the data and other information which is in possession of, or...What is a Change of Layout?
The courts have recently given additional clarification on just how far a lessee can go in altering the layout of a property without either the landlord’s consent or breaching other terms of the lease. The case of Waycourt Ltd. v Viscount Chelsea...What to do When Your IT Doesn't Work
These days it is increasingly the case that when your IT doesn't work, neither does your business. Clearly, the best way to deal with IT problems is prevention, which means doing regular backups, proper systems maintenance, keeping anti-virus protection up...When Green is Brown (and Vice Versa)
Development in rural areas presents a number of challenges for planning teams and developers alike. Whilst planning policy is clear that previously developed (i.e. “brown”) land is to be used for new housing in preference to undeveloped...When Overtime Can Mean More Pension Entitlement
Employers who are relying on the fact that overtime is not taken into account when assessing the pension entitlement of their employees should check the implications of a recent Court of Appeal case. The case involved a caretaker employed by Newham Borough...When is an Environmental Impact Assessment Necessary
The The Town and Country Planning (Environmental Impact Assessment) (England and Wales) Regulations 1999 apply to any development likely to have significant effects on the environment by virtue of its size, nature or location. If a Local...Your Home Office - The Legalities
If you run your own business, working from home, there are legal ramifications which need to be considered. There are few regulations that apply to 'normal' businesses that do not apply to 'home' businesses: you are not exempt just...
