Bullet Point Updates
July 2016 – New Scots Hub – Charity Fundraising
Charities in Scotland are largely governed by the Office of the Scottish Charity Regulator (“OSCR”) set up by the Charities and Trustee Investment (Scotland) Act 2005 (“the 2005 Act”). OSCR’s general functions include: determining whether bodies qualify as...
June 2016 – “I’m late! I’m late! For a very important date!” – The White Rabbit & “prescription” of claims in court
Illustration of the prescription (extinction) of claims in court Suppose poor James borrows £1,000 from his friend rich Jean. They agree that no interest is payable on the loan and it will be repaid on 30th June 2017. Somehow, perhaps in tune with the maxim “neither a...
May 2016 – Private Residential Tenancies – Part 2
The Private Housing (Tenancies)(Scotland) Act 2016 (“the 2016 Act”) received Royal Assent last month. Not much of it is yet in force. But it makes sweeping changes to the law concerning private residential tenancies in Scotland. This Note outlines some of the key...
April 2016 – Private Residential Tenancies – Part 1
The Private Housing (Tenancies)(Scotland) Act 2016 (“the 2016 Act”) received Royal Assent this month. Not much of it is yet in force. But it makes sweeping changes to the law concerning private residential tenancies in Scotland. So this Note outlines some of the key...
March 2016 – Succession Law Changes – Part 2
The Succession (Scotland) Act 2016 (“the 2016 Act”) was passed by the Scottish Parliament last month and received Royal Assent this month. Last month’s Bullet Point Update commented on some of the Act’s provisions concerning wills. This month we look at some of the...
February 2016 – Succession Law Changes – Part 1
The Succession (Scotland) Act 2016 (“the 2016 Act”) was passed by the Scottish Parliament last month (although none of it is yet in force). It is not one of those Acts that makes sweeping changes to the general law of succession. The most recent Act which did so was...
January 2016 – Second Homes & Land and Buildings Transaction Tax
Stamp Duty Land Tax used to apply across the UK in relation to “land transactions”. But, for Scotland, with effect from 1st April 2015, this was replaced by Land and Buildings Transaction Tax (“LBTT”) under the Land and Buildings Transaction Tax (Scotland) Act 2013...
December 2015 – Scottish Rate Of Income Tax
Background Section 80C of the Scotland Act 1998 provides: “(1) The Scottish Parliament may by resolution (a “Scottish rate resolution”) set the Scottish rate for the purpose of calculating the rates of income tax to be paid by Scottish taxpayers.” It then refers one...
November 2015 – Sorting Out Consumer Disputes
The Consumer Rights Act 2015 came into force last month. It is largely the result of a review of the law about consumer rights conducted jointly by the (English) Law Commission and the Scottish Law Commission. The review culminated in a Joint Report, with...
October 2015 – Private Tenancy Rent Control
Introduction The Bullet Point Update (No. 4) for April this year said something about changes in the offing for private rented sector tenancies. Things have moved on a bit since then and the changes now included in The Private Housing Tenancies (Scotland) Bill 2015,...
September 2015 – “The battle of the executors”
Introduction When someone makes a will they usually include in it the appointment of “executors”: that is the people they want to be in control of the administration of their estates and responsible for distributing the property to their chosen beneficiaries. The...
August 2015 – “It’s not fair and we will act” – The new Inheritance Tax allowance for residential property
One of the things in George Osborne’s Summer Budget speech which attracted a lot of attention was the announcement of the phasing in of a new Inheritance Tax (“IHT”) allowance of £175,000 (to be added on to an individual’s existing IHT “nil rate band” of £325,000)...
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