HMRC has announced a final settlement opportunity in relation to disguised remuneration (DR) schemes, and has provided information on identifying a DR scheme.

Historically, ground rent was always a peppercorn, zero or nominal rent charged by freeholders (or landlords) as token consideration in order to form a binding contract.

With the property market picking up across the country and interest rates remaining low, property development may seem like an attractive opportunity to make some profit.

The Land Registry recently obtained judgment against solicitors who enabled a borrower’s fraud by failing to spot forged discharge documents. The Land Registry had indemnified the lender and made the claim by way of subrogation to recover its loss.

Umbrellas are useful at this time of the year, as the seasons change and the misty drizzle returns. But the right umbrella is critical: if it isn’t sturdy and wind-resistant it may not keep you dry. The same is true of umbrella companies that are used by agency workers, contractors, and self-employed professionals to manage their payroll administration.

In what has been hailed as a ‘return to common sense’ by solicitors, the Court of Appeal has ruled that a solicitor is not liable for a building society’s losses after paying more than £180,000 of mortgage monies over to an imposter. Lenders may disagree.

If solicitors fail to do their job properly, with the result that a fraudulent transaction is not carried out as intended, are the solicitors still liable?

In the continuing climate of economic uncertainty, with grant funding cut back severely and traditional, long-term funding options all but dried up, housing associations have embraced bond issuance as an effective way to secure long-term finance at competitive rates.

A family investment company (FIC) is a tax-efficient vehicle allowing protection of, and control over, wealth transferred out of an individual’s estate.

The ability to make and receive payments is critical to businesses and individuals. How we do this has undergone enormous change over the last decade.