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Despite strong representations from the professional community, HM Revenue and Customs (HMRC) have decided that they will stick with a 30-day initial payment requirement for Capital Gains Tax (CGT) on residential property gains for disposals after April 2020. The payment will have to be lodged with HMRC within 30 days of the date of completion of the sale. The sale of one's primary residence in the UK is not generally taxable for UK residents, so the change will normally catch only those who are non-resident or who sell second properties. The...

Almost everyone who has flown much has a story (or more than one) about lost or damaged luggage, and holiday insurance claims regarding these are commonplace. A Finnish man who took a holiday to Malaga found that some items went missing from his luggage on the return trip and he proceeded to make a claim against his insurance policy. He had used Finnair's website to see what to do and concluded that he could telephone their customer helpline to report the matter. Finnair refused to settle with the insurer because the...

If you are faced with an unwelcome proposal for development nearby, a recent case shows how tenaciousness and a knowledge of past planning history can help to prevent it.Consistency of decision making is a fundamental principle of planning law and local authorities can only depart from it if they give cogent reasons for doing so. In one case in which this was in point, planning permission for a new home in a Green Belt village was overturned by the Court of Appeal.The relevant site had a depressingly protracted planning...

London has gained a reputation as 'the divorce capital of the world' because settlements reached are, by international standards, very generous towards women. It is no surprise, therefore, that the courts in this country are a very popular choice of venue for wives seeking to divorce their husbands on the best possible terms. However, the English courts are not the right place to deal with all divorces – they are for those who are domiciled in this country. Domicile is a complex notion but corresponds with 'where someone belongs'. It...