It may well seem contradictory to have both the words “authorised” and “fraud” appearing in the same phrase as in the title above. But, on the one hand, fraud may occur when someone steals your bank card and uses it to make unauthorised payments and, on the other...

How does VAT work? VAT (value added tax) is a tax added to most products and services supplied by VAT-registered businesses. Businesses have to register for VAT if their taxable turnover is more than £90,000. A VAT-registered business must in particular:...

Background This month the Scottish Parliament Information Centre (known as SPICe) re-published its Briefing Paper on “Contact between grandparents and their grandchildren”. Generally speaking, its subject matter is a non-issue. Grandparents, parents and grandchildren...

Background – the current rules for the Furnished Holiday Lettings (“FHL”) tax regime Under the current tax rules the income from furnished holiday lettings may treated as “trading income” instead of income from a “property business”. If the income is treated as...

This is not a cheerful subject but is an important one. Towards the end of last month the Assisted Dying for Terminally Ill Adults (Scotland) Bill was introduced to the Scottish Parliament by Liam McArthur MSP: Assisted Dying for Terminally Ill Adults (Scotland) Bill...

Just before Christmas MSPs unanimously passed the Trusts and Succession (Scotland) Bill which became an Act this month although much of it is not yet in force. Most of the Act concerns long-awaited modernisation and improvements to trust law rather than any extensive...

 Land and Buildings Transaction Tax (“LBTT”) Where an individual buys a residential property, for example a house or a flat, “Land and Buildings Transaction Tax” (“LBTT”) is usually payable. The amount of LBTT payable depends on: the date the property was purchased;...

For hundreds of years landownership in Scotland had been based on a feudal system under which there was a hierarchy of interests in the same land and at the ultimate head of the hierarchy was the Crown. Many aspects of the system were whittled away over the centuries...

Something was said about renting out your flat or house on a short-term let and the consequent requirements for a licence from the local authority in both our February 2022 Bullet Point Update 2022 Bullet Point Update 2 - Licensing Shake Up for Airbnb's & Short...

As is well known, Council Tax is a tax on domestic property collected by local councils and the money is used to pay for local services like rubbish collection, roads and street lighting. Some people can get a discount on their Council Tax bill, and some don’t have to...

A recent case in the Supreme Court (McCulloch v Forth Valley Health Board, 2023 S.L.T. 72 (“McCulloch”)) has clarified the legal test to be applied to a doctor’s advisory role in telling a patient about treatment options. The “professional practice test” The legal...

What is a “continuing power of attorney”? A continuing power of attorney is a legal document which an adult may create, while mentally able to do so, to give someone else the power to manage their property and financial affairs should they no longer have the capacity...