Customs and Excise and Inland Revenue will work more closely together, the government announced on 15 February 2000. The new proposals include co-operation on action against the black economy, education schemes, joint seminars and open days, and developing common standards in areas such as electronic filing. There are unconfirmed rumours that the government is investigating...Read More

The government will not be introducing a pesticides tax, following successful negotiations with the agrochemical industry. [2000]Read More

The Urgent Issues Task Force (UITF) has issued Information Sheet 35 to clarify the accounting treatment of various items:   Takeover costs The UITF considered whether takeover costs could be capitalised as goodwill, as part of the cost of an acquisition. Such takeover costs include arrangement fees for bridging finance facilities, participation fees, and researching...Read More

The Competition Act 1998 generally becomes law from 1 March 2000, though some provisions have already been brought into force. The Act prohibits anti-competitive agreements between businesses, and an abuse of dominant position, which may be committed by one business acting alone. It ends the practice whereby many forms of innocent arrangement need registering. It...Read More

Alchemy Marketing has been closed down by the DTI as a result of its largest prosecution so far. Alchemy conned over 7,000 vulnerable people into each paying over £2,000 in a get-rich-quick scam involving over £3 million. The DTI expressed surprise that so many people were conned. The five directors received prison sentences of nearly...Read More

An employee who walked out of work because of threatening and abusive behaviour by colleagues was protected by Employment Rights Act 1996 s100(1)(d). Therefore his dismissal was automatically unfair dismissal. This section of the Act protects an employee against dismissal or other action if he leaves his workplace because of some danger which makes it...Read More

An employee is required to obey lawful orders under his contract of employment even when that order is given in bad faith. In 1993 Celtic Football Club engaged a manager under a contract which provided that he must live within 45 miles of the centre of Glasgow. The manager rented a home in Glasgow, though...Read More