Tax and the City briefing for July 2015

The Summer Budget should mean that UK-parented banks operating internationally will now have the longer term incentive of reducing bank levy rates, and no bank levy at all on non-UK balance sheets from 2021. For a foreign bank with a UK branch, the reduction in the bank levy will be the main attraction. Other Budget changes include bank levy relief from double taxation; a denial of deductions for misselling compensation; and compulsory notifications to customers with offshore accounts. A new code of practice for large businesses is proposed, together with increased penalties for serial tax avoiders. The tribunal considers whether the accounts ‘fairly represent’ a repo under the loan relationship rules. There are also some interesting developments on double tax treaty arbitration at the G7 summit.