By Karl Mah

This year’s Autumn Statement proved to be rather quiet on the corporate tax front, contrasting with the recent OECD/BEPS led activity in the international arena. Perhaps this was in part due to the relatively recent Summer Budget and the fact that the Chancellor had benefitted from an unexpected revenue windfall driven by higher than expected receipts and an improving UK economy. As is typical in the current climate, the announcements covered a number of targeted anti-avoidance measures and made reference to the Government’s desire to combat perceived anti-avoidance. In particular, we can expect legislation to determine when performance based rewards received by investment managers (such as carried interest) will be taxed as income or capital gains, which from a policy perspective seems consistent with what has previously been said.

The major headlines were, however, made by issues that impact day-to-day life, such as the reversal of tax credits policy and  the introduction of “landlord” stamp duty tax rates.

If useful, you can read more about the OECD’s final BEPS Project Reports here