30 May 2025
UK and Isle of Man discuss measures against tax avoidance and evasion
HM Treasury has issued a press release titled UK and Isle of Man discuss measures against tax avoidance and evasion. The release, which includes a joint statement from James Murray MP (UK Exchequer Secretary to the Treasury) and Dr Alex Allinson MHK (Isle of Man Treasury Minister), sets out that the UK and Isle of Man governments will work more closely together to crack down on promotors of tax avoidance schemes. The two governments will explore how they can further enhance information flows, joint working, and other ways to achieve benefits for both jurisdictions.
OECD publishes updated transfer pricing country profiles
The OECD has published updated transfer pricing country profiles reflecting the current transfer pricing legislations and practices of various countries. According to the OECD, the profiles focus on countries' domestic legislation regarding key transfer pricing aspects, including the arm's length principle, methods, comparability analysis, intangible property, intra-group services, cost contribution agreements, documentation, administrative approaches to avoiding and resolving disputes, safe harbour and other implementation measures. New sections are included on the simplified and streamlined approach for baseline marketing and distribution activities (resulting from the work on Amount B of Pillar One) and the transfer pricing treatment of hard-to-value intangibles. Updated profiles have been published for Colombia, Croatia, Denmark, Honduras, Indonesia, Jamaica, Luxembourg, Malaysia, Saudi Arabia, Slovak Republic and Turkey. New profiles have been published for Azerbaijan and Pakistan.
Walkers Snack Foods Limited: Whether zero-rating applied to Sensations Poppadoms
Walkers’ Sensations Poppadoms are made of potato granules (18%), potato starch (18%), and modified potato starch (approx. 4%). They also contain gram flour and rice flour. Potato crisps are excepted from the VAT zero-rating, as are “similar products made from the potato, or from potato flour, or from potato starch”. The Upper Tribunal (UT) has upheld the First-tier Tribunal’s (FTT’s) decision that Sensations Poppadoms are “similar products made from the potato”, and accordingly standard-rated. The UT agreed with the FTT’s conclusion that the product is made from the potato, on the basis that “the potato” includes potato granules, and that, accordingly, the potato content is 39-40%, which is “significant”, particularly relative to other ingredients. The UT also found that the FTT’s conclusion that Sensations Poppadoms are similar to potato crisps, based on a multifactorial assessment, was reasonable (which is the test on an appeal). The UT did note that while “it may be possible to disagree with the weight given by the FTT to individual elements of its multifactorial assessment”, the overall assessment was reasonable and the decision one that the FTT was entitled to make based on the evidence. The UT dismissed Walkers’ appeal against the FTT’s decision. (Contact: Andrew Roberts)
EMEA Dbriefs webcasts
As a reminder, the next EMEA Dbriefs tax webcast is on Wednesday 4 June 2025 at 12.00 BST/13.00 CEST. In Are your reward practices fit for the future?, hosted by Katie Kenny, we will discuss reward programmes and the evolving expectations of the workforce. This webcast will focus on trends around understanding return on investment from reward arrangements, the use of pay transparency to enhance engagement including the role performance management plays in this, embedding a recognition culture and using wellbeing as an outcome, and the role employee share schemes play in engaging and motivating employees.