<p>Filter Knowledge</p>

The EU Withdrawal Agreement Bill is set to recommence its journey through Parliament on Friday 20 December. Assuming the Bill is passed, this will pave the way for Brexit to happen on 31 January 2020, and usher in the transition period which is due to expire on 31 December 2020.

Here is a brief summary of the main taxation changes that will be relevant to the real estate sector from the main party manifestos and accompanying documents.

The Fifth Money Laundering Directive comes into force on 10 January 2020. Firms will need to be ready.

With the UK General Election just around the corner, immigration and employment feature heavily in election manifestos. Here we highlight the key pledges from each of the three main parties on employment law and business immigration. 

Labour's manifesto is called "It's Time For Real Change" and, if implemented, their tax proposals would certainly radically alter the current tax landscape. 

Return to Manifesto Tax Portal

Return to Manifesto Tax Portal

Return to Manifesto Tax Portal

Return to Manifesto Tax Portal

We'll be regularly updating this portal with information and commentary on the UK's General Election 2019, with a specific focus on the tax news as that arrives. We'll also be collating the tax information in the handy table below.

On 23 June 2016, the British people voted to leave the EU and in March 2017, the UK government triggered the departure process by invoking Article 50 of the Lisbon Treaty.

The process of applying for planning consent increasingly requires ever more detailed statements and assessments before an application is determined. This often involves onerous commitments by developers in order to satisfy pre-commencement conditions.

Many organisations are failing to publish information on their payment practices, which could lead to being barred from government contracts or even the spectre of regulatory enforcement.

Key employment and business immigration developments for employers.

Although many commentators argue that this election is extremely difficult to predict, let’s assume that polls suggesting a Conservative majority turn out to be correct. In that case, the expectation would be that the new government would be able to secure the passage of its Bill implementing the renegotiated draft Withdrawal Agreement.

Liverpool FC has recently emerged victorious from a battle with sportswear maker New Balance over a right for New Balance to match the terms offered by a competing kit supplier – but it was a close-run thing. As we pointed out in our briefing on a similar case involving Rangers FC and Sports Direct, such rights often appear attractive – but both cases also demonstrate how easily they can lead to disputes.

It’s well known that if two competing firms fix prices or share customers/markets, they can be fined for breaching competition law. But a recent case involving the energy sector highlights the potential for liability to be imposed on businesses such as software providers which have helped to facilitate anti-competitive activity.

There is an emerging trend towards post-completion or post-occupation reviews of the efficacy of planning obligations which result in clawbacks or uplifts in financial contributions or mitigation works, sometimes for a number of years post-completion. This leaves frayed edges to completion-driven real estate transactions and can leave tenants potentially exposed to unknown or unquantified additions to service charges.