Paul and Lucy were married in Scotland on the 14 August.

Staff sent Paul on his way in traditional Daltons style and we wish them both a long and happy life together.

However, there were some plums to be picked among the thorns. In particular, the tax regime affecting carers has been improved significantly. Also, the changes to National Insurance Contributions and the increase in the tax-free personal allowance will benefit the lower-paid. Adjustments will be made once the Retail Prices Index (RPI) for September is known in order to adjust the tax thresholds to prevent the change from benefiting higher-rate taxpayers.

Income Tax

Tax Thresholds
Although the increase by a further £1,000 from April 2011 in the tax-free allowance for Income Tax (IT) purposes will attract the headlines, the higher-rate limits are being frozen until at least 2014.

Furnished Holiday Lettings
The Government is cancelling the proposed changes relating to the taxation of those operating furnished holiday lettings businesses, but measures governing the ‘actual days let’ rules are being tightened up.

Investments
From 6 April 2011, the ISA limits will be increased in line with the RPI on an annual basis. One nice touch by the Chancellor is that the increases are to be rounded to the nearest £120, so that individuals who save monthly will be able to calculate their monthly savings more easily.

There are detailed changes to the legislation on Venture Capital Trusts (VCTs), which have the practical effect that a wider range of investments can now attract VCT status, and other changes, one of which is that Enterprise Investment Scheme and VCT companies no longer have to trade in the UK but need only have a ‘permanent establishment’ here.

Pensions
The Government is deferring by two years (to age 77) the age by which a pension must be vested by the pension holder. This applies now, but only to those who have not reached the age of 75. The detailed changes will take effect in 2011, so there will be a limited window of opportunity to take any necessary action.

Capital Gains Tax

The changes to the Capital Gains Tax (CGT) regime below all have immediate effect from midnight on 22 June.

Legislation will be included in the Finance Bill 2010 to introduce a new top rate of CGT of 28 per cent, which will apply to disposals after Budget day. For individuals, the rate of CGT remains at 18 per cent where total taxable gains and income are less than the upper limit of the IT basic-rate band. The 28 per cent rate applies to gains (or any parts of gains) above that limit. The annual exempt amount remains unchanged.

The biggest change is the increase in the lifetime limit for Entrepreneurs’ Relief to £5 million (up from £2 million) for qualifying capital gains. These will continue to qualify for a reduced rate of CGT of 10 per cent.

The CGT regime is being amended so that ‘deferred gains’ where prior gains have been rolled over into new assets will be taxed at the new rates of CGT when the gain is realised, not the rate of CGT applicable when the gain was deferred.

General

Guardians and Carers
People who care for one or more children placed with them under either a special guardianship order (i.e. special guardians) or a residence order, where that individual is not the children’s parent or step-parent, will not pay tax on the sums they receive under the order from 6 April 2010.

The regulations applicable to ‘shared-life carers’ have also been simplified, based on a scale of tax-free allowances which increase with the number of persons cared for. This will affect foster families and other shared-life carers.

Special guardians and kinship carers providing care for a child who has not been placed with them under a residence order will not be considered qualifying carers for the purposes of this IT relief. However, they will be entitled to claim the new IT exemption for payments to qualifying guardians.

The CGT exemption applicable to private residences is being preserved where an adult placement carer uses part of their home exclusively for the purposes of their business as a carer.

Asbestos Compensation Trusts
Asbestos compensation trusts established before the budget are to be exempted from the Inheritance Tax ‘periodic charge’ and CGT on disposals of certain assets. The practical effect of this will be to benefit those who receive income from such trusts, established by employers to compensate those who have suffered ill-health because of exposure to asbestos.

For further information, see
 http://www.hmrc.gov.uk/budget2010/supplementary.htm#technotes.

Corporation Tax

The main rate of Corporation Tax (CT), applicable to companies with taxable profits over £1.5 million, will be reduced from 28 per cent to 27 per cent on 1 April 2011. Thereafter, it will fall a further 1 per cent each year until reaching 24 per cent on 1 April 2014.

The CT rate for small companies (those with taxable profits below £300,000) will decrease from 21 per cent to 20 per cent from 1 April 2011.

The general thrust of the changes is to make trading by means of a limited company, and basing a company in the UK, more attractive. With the recent Companies Act (2006) now fully implemented, the UK has a much more attractive legislative and tax regime than previously.

A small change has also been made to the rules for consortium relief, whereby control and voting rights are a factor in determining the percentage of a loss that can be claimed from a consortium company. However, a company will no longer have to be UK resident to transfer its share of the consortium’s losses to another consortium member.

Further CT reforms are expected to be announced this autumn.

Capital Allowances

From 1 April 2012 for companies, and 6 April 2012 for unincorporated businesses, the rate at which capital expenditure attracts CT relief will be reduced, from 20 per cent to 18 per cent annually in the case of items allocated to the ‘main rate pool’ and from 10 per cent to 8 per cent in the case of items in the ‘special rate pool’ (such as long-life assets, integral features etc.)

The annual investment allowance will also be reduced from April 2012, from £100,000 to £25,000.

Businesses considering major capital investments should consider the implications of the changes carefully.

General

From 23 June, the rate of Capital Gains Tax (CGT) applying to any gains above the basic rate Income Tax band (£37,400 for 2010-11) increases from 18 per cent to 28 per cent. However, business investors will be cheered by the fact that the lifetime limit for Entrepreneurs’ Relief has been increased from £2m to £5m. The rate of CGT on gains qualifying for Entrepreneurs’ Relief remains at 10 per cent.

Many new businesses located in most regions of the UK will benefit from a ‘National Insurance Contributions (NICs) Holiday’, whereby qualifying employers will not have to pay the first £5,000 of Class 1 employer NICs due in respect of the first 52 weeks of employment of each employee (up to a maximum of 10) hired in the first year of business. The scheme is expected to run for three years and will cover any Class 1 employer NICs that fall due during this time.

The scheme is due to start in September 2010, although this is yet to be confirmed. Businesses that commence trading on or after 22 June will be able to enjoy the benefits of the scheme: they will have to pay Class 1 employer NICs until the scheme is introduced but will receive a holiday of equal duration once the scheme commences.

The scheme is intended to promote private enterprise in areas where there are currently a large number of public sector employees. It will therefore not cover London, the South East and the East.

Full details of the scheme will be published before its introduction. There will be restrictions on the types of eligible businesses: the Government intends to restrict the scheme to ‘businesses which undertake a sufficient degree of new economic activity’. What this will mean in practice will be revealed when full details of the scheme are published.

VAT

The standard rate of VAT is set to rise from 17.5 per cent to 20 per cent on 4 January 2011. Items which are exempt or zero-rated for VAT purposes, or upon which VAT is charged at the reduced rate of 5 per cent, are unaffected.

The rates applicable to businesses using the flat-rate scheme for VAT will also change, and can be found at http://www.hmrc.gov.uk/budget2010/bn45.pdf. The turnover threshold above which businesses must leave the flat-rate scheme will be increased from £225,000 to £230,000, inclusive of VAT. This change is designed to help businesses which would otherwise no longer be eligible to participate in the flat-rate scheme.

Anti-avoidance legislation has been introduced to combat schemes which attempt to apply the current VAT rate to goods or services which will be delivered on or after 4 January 2011.

For further information, see http://www.hmrc.gov.uk/budget2010/supplementary.htm#technotes.

Who needs to be aware of the changes?

Property owners and landowners will need to be aware of the changes as the costs of constructing a new building will increase because of the need to meet greater energy efficiency requirements and reduce carbon emissions. Any cost increases are also likely to impact on potential purchasers when they buy a new home and on occupiers who undertake work in their home. However, it is estimated that these additional costs will be offset by lower fuel bills over the life of the property.

What are the changes?

Means of ventilation

New requirements and guidance will be introduced for the installation and commissioning of fixed mechanical ventilation systems. For example:

• Ventilation requirements will be increased in certain situations to take account of increasingly airtight homes.

• Building owners will need to be provided with sufficient information to operate a building’s ventilation system adequately.

• Builders will be required to notify the relevant local authority building control body (BCB):

o when a mechanical ventilation system is commissioned; and

o of the measured air flow rate of a mechanical ventilation system in a new dwelling.

Combustion appliances and fuel storage systems

The changes are designed to ensure that combustion appliances function safely in today’s more airtight homes. They will:

• Introduce new requirements aimed at reducing the threat of carbon monoxide poisoning (for example, by installing carbon monoxide alarms in dwellings with new solid-fuel appliances).

• Provide guidance on improving ventilation in “very airtight houses”, especially those where energy efficiency improvements mean that previous escape routes for carbon monoxide (such as draughty windows in old houses) have been eliminated.

Conservation of fuel and power

New requirements will be introduced with the aim of improving the energy efficiency of new homes by 25%. The amendments will:

• Adjust how the target emission rate (TER) is calculated.

• Introduce a requirement to provide the BCB with a TER and dwelling emission rate (DER) before work starts. After completion, the builder will need to notify the BCB of the TER and DER actually achieved. Also, if the work was not carried out to specification, then the builder will have to confirm how the specification changed.

• Add margins of error to calculations where actual energy efficiency figures are estimated or extrapolated from existing data. In effect, this will encourage a detailed energy assessment of every building.

What are the penalties for contravening the Regulations?

If building work is undertaken that contravenes the Regulations, the BCB can:

• Serve an enforcement notice which requires the removal or alteration of work that does not comply with the Regulations. The enforcement notice will give 28 days to carry out the required work, failing which the local authority can carry out the work at the cost of the owner/occupier.

• Apply for an injunction for the removal or alteration the work. Traditionally, injunctions have not been widely used to enforce the Regulations because of the costs involved. Injunctions tend to be used for those situations that are urgent and where the cost can be justified by the risk of serious danger to health and safety (for example, where a nightclub is at risk of fire).

• Prosecute a contravention of the Regulations through summary proceedings in the magistrates’ court. Businesses may be liable to a fine of up to £5,000 and an additional £50 per day for each day the contravention continues after conviction. However, prosecutions are relatively infrequent and generally taken only for flagrant or wilful breaches.

Regularisation certificate

Even if a local authority does not prosecute or take enforcement action, it will not issue a completion certificate to confirm compliance with the Regulations if there has been a contravention. This may subsequently create difficulties when selling the property. A regularisation certificate can be obtained which provides evidence (but not conclusive evidence) that the requirements of the Regulations specified in the certificate have been complied with.

More information

If you have any questions about the content of this checklist, please contact Michael Dalton at michaeldalton@daltons-law.co.uk

Mr Pickles today laid an Order suspending HIPs with immediate effect, pending primary legislation for a permanent abolition. The Secretary of State has taken this swift action in order to avoid uncertainty and prevent a slump in an already fragile housing market. Today’s announcement sends a clear message of encouragement to people thinking of selling their home that they can put it on the market with less cost and hassle.

Mr Pickles and Mr Shapps also said that the Government is determined to help people reduce their energy bills, improve our energy security and tackle climate change by increasing the energy efficiency of their homes. Sellers will still be required to commission an Energy Performance Certificate before marketing their property, and the Government will consider how the EPC can play its part in the new drive for a low carbon and eco-friendly economy.
Eric Pickles said:

“The expensive and unnecessary Home Information Pack has increased the cost and hassle of selling homes and is stifling a fragile housing market.

“That’s why I am taking emergency action to suspend the HIP, bringing down the cost of selling a home and removing unnecessary regulation from the home buying process.

“This swift and decisive action will send a strong message to the fragile housing market and prevent uncertainty for both home sellers and buyers.

“HIPs are history. This action will encourage sellers back into the market, and help the market as a whole and the economy recover.”

In 2007, however, instead of granting a certificate of lawful use, Reigate and Banstead Council issued an enforcement notice, requiring the man to demolish the building. The basis of the Council’s argument was that the erection and removal of the straw bales was part of the building process and so the four-year time limit only started to run in 2006.

A planning inspector upheld the Council’s ruling, so the owner then went to court, which upheld the original decision.

Faced with the prospect of having to demolish his home, an appeal to the Court of Appeal seems likely. In a similar case, the Court recently ruled in favour of a man who built a house when planning permission had been granted for a barn, where the house was erected under cover of an external structure that looked like a barn.

Councils take a dim view of those who show blatant disregard for planning regulations and will fight such cases more often than not. For advice on all planning law matters, contact us.

The Open Spaces Society has backed local residents in their bid to register the land, used as a golf course, as a village green over the past five years.

For land to be registered as a green, local people had to show that a significant number of them have used the land “as of right” for informal recreation for at least 20 years.
The local authority and the lower courts argued that, in using the land for informal recreation, local people had given way to the golfers, so their use had not been ‘as of right’.

However, five Supreme Court judges have allowed the appeal.

Giving the leading judgment, Lord Walker said: “I have great difficulty in seeing how a reasonable owner would have concluded that the residents were not asserting a right to take recreation on the disputed land, simply because they normally showed civility towards members of the golf club who were out playing golf. It is not as if the residents took to their heels and vacated the land whenever they saw a golfer.”

Both Lords Walker and Rodger observed that registration of land as a green would be unlikely to result in a change in its use by local inhabitants.

Kate Ashbrook, society general secretary, said: “This monumental decision clarifies the law on registering land as new greens. The Supreme Court has said beyond all doubt that use of land as a green can co-exist with the landowner’s activities.

“In the past, applications have been rejected merely because the local people were civil and deferred to the use by the landowner-whether he was making hay or playing golf.”

Daltons Solicitors was established on Hayling Island in 1986 and for almost a quarter of a century has delivered a high quality personal legal service to the residents of Hayling Island. However, the increasing costs of maintaining a high street practice mean that it is no longer viable to keep open the office on Hayling Island. The final straw was the spiralling costs of professional indemnity insurance which has put hundreds of small firms at risk (The Times, Thursday October 8th 2009).

Michael Dalton says “The decision to close the Hayling Island office is the most difficult decision I have had to take in almost thirty years of business. I am genuinely hurt and saddened by the fact that the closure of the office means than five extremely loyal and valuable members of staff have had to be made redundant. However, I would like to thank them and the residents of Hayling island for their support over the years without which it would not have been possible for the firm to continue on Hayling Island for twenty-three years”.

Daltons Solicitors will, however, continue to deliver its core range of services from its offices in Petersfield and all client matters, files, deeds and documents will be transferred to the Petersfield office on or before the closure of Hayling. The move will cut costs significantly and help put Daltons Solicitor in the best possible position to deliver the services its clients and customers demand. Michael Dalton says “This will help make Daltons Solicitors a firm that is fit for the future, that can live within its means and that can continue to provide an outstanding service to its clients and customers”.

The actual closing date has not yet been announced but will be on or before 30th November 2009.

Sustainable law is a new concept for law firms and as such, Daltons considers themselves the market leaders. Sarah Jordan, commercial property solicitor at Daltons’ Petersfield office, tells us more:-

What is sustainable law?

Sustainable law is all about meeting the needs and expectations of clients without compromising the ability of future generations to meet their own needs, whether in relation to the provision of legal services or otherwise.   In a nutshell, it is about conserving what we have and protecting it.  At Daltons, their priority is the provision of high quality legal advice to clients.  Their understanding of sustainability issues enhances the value delivered to clients.
To begin with Daltons looked at their own practice and having taken the time to understand sustainability, they applied their knowledge and understanding for the benefit of their clients.

Sarah explains that sustainable law has evolved from the provision of agricultural law services: ‘My farming clients are increasingly introducing and considering green technologies and supply chains ranging from renewable energy provision to biomass to the growing demand for locally farmed produce.  This shift in core farming practice requires a whole new range of legal products and services.  However, it is no longer only the farmers who require this service but the smallholders, estate owners, local authorities and local individuals and businesses who themselves are providing sustainable services.’

Sarah told the Business Magazine that there are two key elements to the Daltons brand of Sustainable Law.

Daltons actively promotes sustainable working within the firm and to their local community.

As a whole, the legal profession uses vast quantities of a variety of resources, particularly paper.  Daltons are committed to using resources in a manner consistent with a sustainable future in which adequate, healthy resources are preserved for future generations. Land use, forestry, air and water quality are all dependant on this.

Daltons actively recycle paper by way of secure shredding facility, where possible purchases are made from suppliers who themselves value sustainability. An office waste reduction initiative was introduced, double sided copying and printing is used wherever possible, lights are turned off in unused rooms, energy saving lightbulbs are used, printer cartridges are recycled and electronic equipment is programmed to power down or switch to energy saving mode when not in use.

The firm runs a plastic milk bottle top collection recycling scheme for the local community and are designing and forming vegetable allotments in the Petersfield office garden for keen staff to collectively grow produce and share the results.  They are planning on opening part of their garden to local youth groups to encourage youngsters to learn how to grow their own produce.

Many of you will have heard of the national Greening Campaign (www.greening-law.co.uk), which aims to promote a more sustainable way of life.  By collective groups within communities agreeing to make small cost effective changes at home and work (such as turning off lights when leaving a room, washing at 30 degrees and so on), this has a huge impact on national reductions of carbon dioxide.  As individuals, many  of us  feel that we do not make any difference, but as a community we can do.  Greening Petersfield is the home of the Greening Campaign and the campaign has since been rolled out to 120 national communities.  Daltons is proud to support Greening Petersfield and the Greening Campaign.  In fact, Sarah plans to launch Greening Midhurst during 2009.

Daltons adds value to their existing client base by offering technical expertise as sustainable law specialists.

Daltons has an established base of clients committed to conducting their business on sustainable values.  As such, Daltons are able to offer an all encompassing sustainable service within this sector, as well as to any other business or individual inclined to “go green” wherever possible.  Legal clients not only seek value for money and good service but also have a ‘green conscience.’  By opting to instruct a firm like Daltons, clients are satisfying the growing trend of linking their personal and business affairs with like-minded firms that recognise and care for the future of the environment.

The firm has strong links with the sustainable sector which allows them to draw on expertise from other like minded professionals with a view to making any transaction as profitable and as “green” as possible.

Sustainable Law itself is a growth business area and already covers an array of legal issues ranging from:-

• biomass / biofuel contract drafting and negotiation;
• food supply contract drafting and negotiation;
• local supply chain contracts;
• national / multi-national company contract review and negotiation;
• woodland management contracts;
• advice concerning grants available from government;
• allotment lets;
• buying and selling land;
• renting land;
• smallholding advice;
• business support advice;
• local authority support advice;
• community project advice;
• risk assessments
• and more …

Daltons really is a law firm that practices what it preaches and adopts integrated, long-term thinking for the social, economic and environmental benefit of their clients and local and national community.
Daltons offer a full range of private and commercial legal services.  Please see their website for details of other practice areas (www.daltons-law.co.uk) or call at anytime to discuss your requirements (01730 262816).  They offer a 30 minute free initial consultation so as well as satisfying your ‘green conscience’ it will also suit the pocket!

Your past, present and ‘sustainable’ future

The move to limited company status is part of a strategic plan developed by the partners Michael Dalton and Rebecca Hawkins.

“Limited companies are now often viewed as the best way forward for dynamic firms such as ourselves. Our conversion is a progressive move and part of our strategic planning that will ensure we continue to expand as a client-focused law firm,” said Rebecca.

“By becoming a limited company, we are continuing to keep pace with a fast-moving and highly regulated environment. It is especially crucial that we plan for our future at a time when high street firms are fighting for survival. Despite challenging times, the firm has expanded organically in recent months with the recruitment of two commercial property specialists, one of whom is well known locally for her expertise in agricultural and equine cases”

The move has been positively received by clients who see Daltons as a modern law firm that retains traditional values and a deliberate presence on the High Street, according to Michael, and has been confirmed through independent client satisfaction surveys.

“We are a client-led firm and this just confirms our commitment to growth and development. We ensure that we consistently meet our clients’ high expectations so that they receive an exceptional service from a dedicated and happy team of lawyers.”

For further details, contact Gill Moss-Bowpitt on 01730 262816 or by email gillmb@daltons-law.co.uk