Category: News

The Office of Tax Simplification (OTS), an independent adviser to the Government, has been asked by Chancellor, Rishi Sunak to review Capital Gains Tax (CGT) to identify any potential administrative and technical issues and need for reform.

It is inevitable that taxes will have to rise to meet the cost of supporting the British economy through the COVID-19 pandemic, and this review is likely to use CGT as a way of increasing revenue for the Government.

We expect the report, to be released in early 2021, to make the following recommendations:

1. to change the CGT rates to align them with Income Tax rates
2. to reduce the number of CGT rates, and the extent to which liabilities depend on the level of income of the taxpayers
3. to consider reducing the Annual Exempt Amount
4. to remove the capital gains uplift on death if a relief or exemption from Inheritance Tax is applicable, and to treat the recipient as acquiring the deceased’s assets at the historic base cost
5. to replace the Business Asset Disposal Relief with a relief more focused on retirement
6. to remove relief for investors selling shares in unlisted companies if they have owned them for a minimum of three years.

Whilst the Government has commissioned the report, it is not obligated to accept its findings but, at some point, it will have to turn its attention to how to cover the cost of the pandemic.

We expect that clients will be considering accelerating their restructuring or exit strategy in preparation of the increase in tax rates in the near future.

If you have a question, please do not hesitate to contact James Cohen directly on [email protected] or 0207 822 2257.

© 2020 GSC Solicitors LLP. All rights reserved. GSC grants permission for the browsing of this material and for the printing of one copy per person for personal reference. GSC’s written permission must be obtained for any other use of this material. This publication has been prepared only as a guide to provide readers with general information on recent legal developments. It is not formal legal advice and should not be relied on for any purpose. You should not act or refrain from acting based on the information contained in this document without obtaining specific formal advice from suitably qualified advisors.

 

On 31 October this year, the Coronavirus Job Retention Scheme will end.

The Chancellor, Rishi Sunak, has announced that from 1 November it will be replaced by the Job Support Scheme. The headlines relating to the Job Support Scheme are:

• It will apply to employees who work at least 33% of their normal hours.
• For the hours not worked by the individual, the government and the employer will each pay the employee one third of the employee’s equivalent salary for that unworked time.
• The level of contribution by the government for each employee will be capped at £697.92 per month.
• To qualify, an employee must have been on an employer’s PAYE payroll on or before 23 September 2020.
• Employers will be able to move employees on and off the Job Support Scheme.
• Employees are not required to consistently work the same hours, but to qualify must work the same hours for at least seven days at a time.
• The employer must agree any changes to working arrangements with the employee and notify the employee of the changes in writing (and any such agreement must be made available to HMRC on request).
• An employer does not need to have been part of the Coronavirus Job Retention Scheme to participate in the Job Support Scheme.
• It is currently planned that the Job Support Scheme will run for six months.

The law in this article is accurate as of 24 September 2020.

If you have any employment law queries, please do not hesitate to contact David Nathan at [email protected] or on 020 7822 2247.

© 2020 GSC Solicitors LLP. All rights reserved. GSC grants permission for the browsing of this material and for the printing of one copy per person for personal reference. GSC’s written permission must be obtained for any other use of this material. This publication has been prepared only as a guide to provide readers with general information on recent legal developments. It is not formal legal advice and should not be relied on for any purpose. You should not act or refrain from acting based on the information contained in this document without obtaining specific formal advice from suitably qualified advisors.

 

Many businesses in the UK operate successfully without the benefit of a registered trade mark to protect their brand name or logo.

It may be that they feel that their brand is too descriptive to be registered as a trade mark, the brand may still be in the process of development or it may simply be that registering a trade mark is one item on a long list that the business has not had time to address yet.

These businesses are still able to protect their brand in the UK using the common law, this is known as “Passing Off”. The right to bring an action for Passing Off does not require any registration and arises once a business has started to build up a reputation.

However, while it can be tempting for businesses to rely on Passing Off, registering a trade mark should generally be the preferable approach for the following reasons.

Immediate protection

Once a trade mark is registered, it will give the owner immediate protection over that mark, regardless of whether it has been used in the past or not and whether or. Although the mark could be revoked in the future if the mark is not used, in the UK there is an initial period of five years where the mark can not be challenged on this basis.

Whilst a Passing Off claim can be made without the need for registration, the brand owner will need to show that the name or logo has been used and that goodwill in the business has been built up. It follows that the protection afforded by Passing Off for a fledgling business will be more limited than that conferred by a registered trade mark.

Identification of potential conflicts

The application process for a trade mark will usually involve searches of the trade mark registry by both, the relevant Intellectual Property Office and by any professional firm that you use.

Applying for a trade mark can identify existing trade marks which may reduce the strength of your brand or even lead to litigation if any of those owners challenge not only your application but also your use of name or logo.

So the initial steps of a trade mark registration can assist in evaluating the benefits of using a particular name or logo.  The prospect of potentially re-branding at an early stage may not seem appealing, but it is much easier at the genesis of a business when there is limited value in that brand (and limited expenditure on the name and logo).

The alternative could be a costly dispute in the future and the prospect of losing the ability to use the brand that you have developed.

Alerting other parties to your rights

By registering a trade mark, that mark will appear on the relevant register. This is a public database which clearly identifies your right to the mark and the date when this arose.

There is no equivalent general database in respect of Passing Off and so rival traders may seek to register a conflicting trade mark without being aware of your pre-existing rights.

Furthermore, if you have a registered trade mark, then you may be notified of any applications for new marks which could affect that mark as the relevant intellectual property office (or anyone tasked with monitoring the register on your behalf) will usually check the registers for any conflicting marks.

Costs of enforcement

If you choose to rely on Passing Off to protect your name and logo, you will not incur the fees required to register a trade mark.  However, you are likely to incur greater fees where you seek to rely on the Passing Off to protect the use of your name or logo (whether by taking action in the courts to stop any interference or by opposing an application for the registration of a rival’s mark in the relevant trade mark registry).

The existence of a registered trade mark can be easily proven by reference to the applicable register.  Without being able to rely on a trade mark, you will instead have to show the following three elements of Passing Off:

1. Goodwill – that your business has built up a reputation;
2. Misrepresentation – that the Defendant has misrepresented their goods and services as yours; and
3. Damage – that the misrepresentation is causing damage to your business, usually by way of diverted sales.

International Expansion

Where you are seeking immediate protection in a number of countries, you can use the international trade mark system to replicate the applications around the world, often before you have even started trading abroad.

While some other countries have similar laws to Passing Off, generally you will need to have traded in each country before being able to rely on those laws.

For further questions please do not hesitate to contact Ross Waldram directly on [email protected] or 0207 822 2236.

© 2020 GSC Solicitors LLP. All rights reserved. GSC grants permission for the browsing of this material and for the printing of one copy per person for personal reference. GSC’s written permission must be obtained for any other use of this material. This publication has been prepared only as a guide to provide readers with general information on recent legal developments. It is not formal legal advice and should not be relied on for any purpose. You should not act or refrain from acting based on the information contained in this document without obtaining specific formal advice from suitably qualified advisors.

 

 

The stay on residential possession claims was due to expire on 23 August 2020, with the Courts due to resume cases after a five-month pause.  At the 11^th hour it was announced that the ban on landlords evicting tenants in England and Wales will continue for a further four weeks until 20 September 2020.

Housing Secretary Robert Jenrick said he was “supporting renters over winter” amid the ongoing effects of the coronavirus outbreak adding that, when the ban was lifted, the most serious cases of anti-social behaviour, other crimes, and unpaid rent for over a year would be heard first.

The government also intends to give tenants greater protection from eviction by requiring landlords to provide their tenants with a 6 months’ notice period, except for cases involving other serious issues such as anti-social behaviour and domestic abuse perpetrators.

It remains to be seen what status will be given to the three month notices that have been served between March 2020 and whenever the proposed extension to a six month notice period is introduced.  It is also unclear as to whether the six month ‘use it or lose it’ notice period for section 21 notices already served will be extended.

We will provide a full update once further information is released.

For further questions please contact Mark Richardson directly on [email protected] or 0207 822 2240.

© 2020 GSC Solicitors LLP. All rights reserved. GSC grants permission for the browsing of this material and for the printing of one copy per person for personal reference. GSC’s written permission must be obtained for any other use of this material. This publication has been prepared only as a guide to provide readers with general information on recent legal developments. It is not formal legal advice and should not be relied on for any purpose. You should not act or refrain from acting based on the information contained in this document without obtaining specific formal advice from suitably qualified advisors.

 

Mainly it appears as a result of Coronavirus, a lot of businesses are currently in the position of making redundancies.

To undertake a redundancy properly, a specific legal process must be followed.

An employer will first need to identify that there is a redundancy situation (perhaps as a result of a downturn in business) and which roles are going to face a reduced headcount.

The employer will then need to decide who is actually to be made redundant by following a process of consultation and meetings with the employees concerned.  The process becomes more complicated if 20 or more employees are to be made redundant within a 90 day period.

It is important to follow the redundancy process carefully, as by not doing so, the employer runs the risk of having to deal with legal claims from disgruntled employees.

If unsure, the best thing is to get professional advice.

GSC’s Employment law solicitors advise on all aspects of employment law from appointment to dismissal and employment tribunal proceedings.

We represent employers in cases of unfair dismissal, race, sex, disability and age discrimination, and unlawful deduction of wages.

If you have any employment law queries, please do not hesitate to contact David Nathan at [email protected] or on 020 7822 2247.

© 2020 GSC Solicitors LLP. All rights reserved. GSC grants permission for the browsing of this material and for the printing of one copy per person for personal reference. GSC’s written permission must be obtained for any other use of this material. This publication has been prepared only as a guide to provide readers with general information on recent legal developments. It is not formal legal advice and should not be relied on for any purpose. You should not act or refrain from acting based on the information contained in this document without obtaining specific formal advice from suitably qualified advisors.

 

Due to the COVID-19 pandemic a stay was imposed by the courts on residential possession claims (and appeals in residential possession claims) until 23 August 2020.  A new practice direction has been introduced, which sets out how residential possession claims will be dealt with by the courts from 24 August 2020.

Stayed Claims

A “stayed claim” is a claim that is brought on or before 22 August 2020.  The new practice direction 55C provides that, unless the court directs otherwise, no stayed claim is to be listed, re-listed, heard, or referred to a judge unless one of the parties files and serves a “reactivation notice”.

The reactivation notice must set out what knowledge the party has as to the effect of the pandemic on the defendant and their dependants.  If the reactivation notice is filed by the claimant and the claim is based on arrears of rent, the claimant must also provide an updated rent account covering a two-year period.

It should be noted that there is an exemption in respect of reactivation notices for any claim brought on or after 3 August 2020 (see further information below) and for any stayed claim in which a final order for possession has been made.

Unless it directs otherwise, the court will give at least 21 days’ notice of any hearing listed or relisted in response to a reactivation notice.  If a reactivation notice is not filed and served before 29 January 2021 the claim will be automatically stayed.

New claims and stayed claims brought on or after 3 August 2020

In any claim brought on or after the 3 August 2020, whether new or stayed, the claimant must serve on the defendant 14 days prior to the hearing (and bring to the hearing) two copies of a notice setting out what knowledge they have as to the effect of the coronavirus pandemic on the defendant and their dependants.  If the possession claim is issued using the accelerated possession claims procedure, the claimant must file this notice with the claim form.

Summary

There will be a requirement in all claims for possession, whether new or stayed, for the claimant set out to the court what knowledge they have as to the effect of the coronavirus pandemic on the defendant and their dependants. However, there is no requirement for investigations to be carried out by or on behalf of the Claimant.

It remains to be seen as to whether or not it will be sufficient for a party to state that they have “no knowledge” of the impact of the coronavirus pandemic upon the defendant and their dependants.  Where the information is not provided, judges will have the ability to adjourn proceedings.

For further questions please contact Mark Richardson directly on [email protected] or 0207 822 2240.

© 2020 GSC Solicitors LLP. All rights reserved. GSC grants permission for the browsing of this material and for the printing of one copy per person for personal reference. GSC’s written permission must be obtained for any other use of this material. This publication has been prepared only as a guide to provide readers with general information on recent legal developments. It is not formal legal advice and should not be relied on for any purpose. You should not act or refrain from acting based on the information contained in this document without obtaining specific formal advice from suitably qualified advisors.