The basis on which stamp duty is charged is being changed in a move that will benefit most purchasers of property. The old system applied a single rate of stamp duty to the sale price, based on the value of the purchase. Because of the
A computer programmer and former non-executive director who breached his employer’s copyright by leaking specialist software to a trade rival is facing a substantial High Court damages claim after his wrongdoing was revealed. The man had written the recruitment software for his employer but had
A charity which for almost 800 years has provided homes for elderly people in need has won an important victory over HM Revenue and Customs (HMRC) in respect of the VAT treatment of a purpose-built block of flats which formed the modern equivalent of alms
In a telling illustration of the acute enforcement difficulties posed by the bewildering complexity of some multinational groups, a company’s hopes of recovering $350 million, which it was owed under the terms of a London arbitration award, have been dealt a serious blow by the
Many find adjudication a swift and cost-effective means of settling contract disputes. However, in one striking case, an adjudicator’s decision in a dispute relating to the installation of communications equipment on the London tube merely served to fire the starting gun on lengthy and expensive
The much criticised exclusion of computer programs from patent protection came under scrutiny as the inventor of a technique used to transmit virus-free documents around the world failed to convince the Court of Appeal that it is a special case. A company had come up
The advent of the motor car created fertile ground for land disputes, as one couple found to their cost after their neighbour succeeded in establishing his ‘squatter’s right’ to park his cars on a country lane at the end of their garden. Trouble brewed after
In a case which brought into direct conflict the conservation of wildlife habitats and the desperate need for new homes, the High Court has rejected a test case plea to put the survival of rare Greater Horseshoe bats before major plans for housing and business
In the latest case on workers’ remuneration in respect of annual leave (Bear Scotland Ltd. and Others v Fulton and Others), the Employment Appeal Tribunal (EAT) ruled that employers should include ‘non-guaranteed’ overtime that is routinely worked when calculating an employee’s holiday pay. The EAT
A blunder in respect of a single letter in an official document resulted in a 124-year-old family business being ruined and an £8.8 million High Court claim. Companies House mistakenly recorded engineering company, Taylor & Sons Limited as having been wound up when it was
