The benefit of hindsight is a wonderful thing. The benefits of a fully functional crystal ball to see the future would be much better. All pensions lawyers (and scheme actuaries) would add it to their gift list!

I will attempt to take a look at the pensions related announcements in Monday’s budget from a future (perhaps optimistic) vantage point.

So here we are, nearing the end of 2023…

1. Dashboards

Following the Enterprise Act 2002, the preferential status which HMRC had enjoyed in an insolvency was abolished, rendering HMRC the same as any other unsecured creditor. The effect of this was to swell the pot of assets available to be applied to all unsecured creditor claims.

Philip Hammond announced in Monday’s budget that HMRC’s preferential status is to be restored. What does this mean for HMRC and unsecured creditors?

The Budget provided that:

Amid all the usual politics of the Government’s Budget this week, one seemingly low-key change might be of considerable interest to lenders and insolvency practitioners. The Chancellor announced that from 6 April 2020 HMRC will once again benefit from a Crown preference.

It’s been reported that the board of directors of AIM-listed Patisserie Holdings plc, which owns the Patisserie Valerie chain of cafés, was not aware for almost a month that HMRC had filed a petition at the High Court of England and Wales to wind up its main trading subsidiary, Stonebeach Limited.

Monthly Law Update | Social Housing July 2018 Introduction  Supply chain  This update shows the main legislative and case law  developments and statutory guidance issued in  connection with the Social Housing sector from the  last month (June 2018) together with links to the  relevant sources where you can obtain further  information.  If you have any concerns about any of the  developments outlined in this update, or if you require  any advice on the effect of the developments or on  how to respond appropriately, please contact: 

Aston Villa face a winding up petition issued by HMRC for unpaid tax. If you’re a business owner the one thing you don’t want to receive is a winding up petition because as soon as your bank finds out about the petition the company bank account will usually be frozen.

This means that even if you have money to pay the petition debt you might not be able to get access to it leaving you in grave danger of going into compulsory liquidation.

HM Revenue & Customs (“HMRC”) has issued a consultation entitled “Tax Abuse and Insolvency: A Discussion Document” on how it proposes to confront those who misuse insolvency law as a means of avoiding or evading their tax liabilities.

Briefings

A recent ruling by the English High Court in BILTA v RBS1, concerning EU Emissions Allowances (“EUAs” or “carbon-credits”) trading has re-opened the debate on when materials forming part of an internal investigation can benefit from litigation privilege. The decision further undermines the restrictive approach taken by Andrews J in SFO v ENRC2 when applying the “sole or dominant purpose test” to dual-purpose communications.

Background – Emissions Trading Fraud

The Facts

PV Solar Solutions Ltd (the "Company") supplied and installed solar panels. When the government reduced preferential tariffs, the Company's profits were affected and it entered Administration in May 2013. The Company subsequently entered into voluntary Liquidation in November 2014.

Introduction

The recent case ofPlant & Plant (administrators of Relentless Software Ltd) v Vision Games 1 Ltd & Ors1 concerns the attempt of a funder of a video games developer to recover the proceeds of a tax credit payment made by HMRC to the developer, pursuant to the security that had been granted by the developer to the funder.

In assessing whether the funder could recover such sums, the High Court was asked to consider various issues, including: