The Freshfields Podcast

Freshfields Bruckhaus Deringer

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Tax Matters: Autumn Statement 2023 – tax cuts in the NIC of time?
5d ago
Tax Matters: Autumn Statement 2023 – tax cuts in the NIC of time?
The UK Chancellor of the Exchequer, Jeremy Hunt, has delivered the Autumn Statement 2023. The Office for Budget Responsibility (OBR) reports that the UK economy has proved to be more resilient to the shocks of the pandemic and energy crisis than anticipated, but with growth forecasts for the next two years reduced and the UK inflation rate expected to be more persistently high, the Chancellor had only modest fiscal firepower at his disposal.  That headroom was used to send a political message about the Conservative Party’s priorities, with tax cuts for both businesses and workers announced. In our latest podcast, London Tax partners Peter Clements and May Smith and London Tax senior associates Josh Critchlow and Chris Gotch discuss some of the business tax measures they found the most noteworthy in the Autumn Statement 2023, including: Making full expensing capital allowance rules permanent, giving companies a 100% first-year allowance for capital expenditure on main rate assets;Further changes to the research and development (R&D) tax relief regime, including merging the existing R&D expenditure credit and SME R&D tax relief schemes, and expanding the scope of the previously-announced additional relief for loss-making R&D-intensive SMEs;Various steps aimed at supporting the energy transition and encouraging oil and gas investment, including introducing an exemption from the Electricity Generator Levy for new projects or extensions, confirmation the Energy Profits Levy will end in 2028 (or earlier if energy prices fall below levels set by the Energy Security Investment Mechanism), and bringing forward new measures to incentivise carbon capture, utilisation and storage;Reductions to various classes of NICs, benefitting both employed and self-employed workers;Announcements relating to the UK’s implementation of the OECD’s global minimum tax reforms, including that the Under-Taxed Profits Rule (UTPR) will apply from January 2025 and the Offshore Receipts in respect of Intangible Property (ORIP) rules will be abolished from that date; andOn stamp duty/SDRT, the expansion of the growth market exemption, and an update on the government’s proposal to legislate to ensure the higher rate charge on the issue and certain transfers of UK shares and securities into clearance services or depositary receipt systems is not reintroduced from January 2024.
MedTech Across Borders – Recent Developments in Japan and the US
06-09-2023
MedTech Across Borders – Recent Developments in Japan and the US
Join partners Takeshi Nakao (Tokyo) and Vinita Kailasanath (Silicon Valley) for the latest episode of the Freshfields MedTech podcast. With a focus on Japan and the US, they discuss trends and innovations in MedTech, and potential risk and regulation that companies with MedTech products and services face. Introduction (English translation): Hello everyone. My name is Takeshi, Managing Partner of Freshfields Tokyo Office. In today's podcast, we will discuss MedTech. MedTech is the word combining “medical” and “technology”, referring to using  IOT and other technologies in healthcare. I will ask the speaker about this area, starting with the definition, which I am sure many of you have heard recently. Technology developments have led to many innovations in the field of healthcare, making it one of the growth areas and an area of high interest. Today I would like to bring you together with an expert in this field from the United States, Vinita Kailasanath. Vinita is the head of Freshfields' MedTech practice and has extensive experience in the field, particularly where both life sciences and technology are concerned. She has been involved in transactions that are strategically very important to our clients in the MedTech and digital health sectors. She provides advice in licensing transactions, research and development, and those kinds of areas. In fact, before becoming a lawyer, Vinita was doing research in the field of neuroendocrinology at the graduate level, which is a word I looked up in the dictionary. She also has experience providing marketing and sales support to pharmaceutical and biotech companies. Outro (English translation): This time, we started with a high-level conversation with the theme of MedTech, explaining recent trends in regulations. Vinita is an expert in the field of MedTech, and we would like to send you another podcast when we hear about new developments as new trends emerge, etc.. Thank you for listening.
Tax Matters: Ready, Steady, Growth – Business tax implications of the UK Spring Budget 2023
16-03-2023
Tax Matters: Ready, Steady, Growth – Business tax implications of the UK Spring Budget 2023
The UK Chancellor of the Exchequer, Jeremy Hunt, has delivered the Spring Budget 2023. Following the instability experienced in the UK in recent months, it was a relief to many to see the Office for Budget Responsibility (OBR) confirm that ‘the economic and fiscal outlook in the UK has brightened somewhat’ since the Autumn Statement 2022 was delivered last November.  That is not to say, though, that the UK economy was given a clean bill of health: the OBR also recognised that ‘weak underlying momentum’ remained, fuelled by high gas prices, stagnating business investment, rising labour market inactivity and slowing productivity growth.  Against that background, it is perhaps no surprise that the Chancellor used this Spring Budget to introduce a range of measures – some headline-grabbing, others more subtle – designed to bring about ‘long term, sustainable, healthy growth’. In our latest podcast, London Tax partners Helen Buchanan and Paul Davison and London Tax senior associate Josh Critchlow discuss some of the business tax measures they found the most noteworthy in the Spring Budget 2023, including: Confirmation that the increase in the main rate of corporation tax from 19% to 25% from 1 April 2023 will go ahead as planned;The introduction of new full expensing capital allowance rules giving companies a 100% first-year allowance for capital expenditure on main rate assets over the next three years;Further changes to the research and development (R&D) tax relief regime, including additional relief for R&D intensive SMEs and a delay to previously-announced restrictions on R&D relief for overseas expenditure;Confirmation that proposed changes to the scope of sovereign immunity from direct tax will not go ahead;A range of amendments designed to ‘fix’ elements of key UK business tax regimes, including the corporate interest restriction and the qualifying asset holding companies regime;Various steps aimed at supporting the energy transition, including proceeding with the previously-announced decarbonisation allowance in the Energy Profits Levy and bringing forward new measures on carbon capture, usage and storage; andReforms to pension tax thresholds, including the unexpected abolition of the Lifetime Allowance.