VAT relief is available on goods and services for people with long-term illnesses or disabilities. 

There are special VAT reliefs available for certain people living with disabilities or long-term illnesses. These reliefs are generally available on certain products and services designed specifically for their personal or domestic use. This VAT relief covers not only the product itself but also installation, repairs, maintenance as well as related spare parts and accessories.

Eligible items typically include adjustable beds, stair lifts, wheelchairs, medical aids, low vision aids (excluding glasses or contact lenses) and home building works such as ramps, widened doorways or lifts. Motor vehicles purchased or leased through the Motability scheme may also qualify.

To benefit from this relief, the individual must meet HMRC’s criteria which usually covers those with a long-term physical or mental condition affecting daily life, chronic illnesses such as diabetes or terminal conditions. Age criteria alone, or temporary disabilities, do not qualify.

Buyers must provide a written declaration confirming their eligibility. Most suppliers will provide a standard form for this purpose.

For imported items, qualifying goods for personal use can benefit from VAT relief if they are properly declared.

Local councils may also offer support or funding for necessary home adaptations, helping ensure greater independence and quality of life for disabled individuals.

Who values goodwill when a business is sold? HMRC's Shares and Assets Valuation team takes the lead.

Whether the goodwill belongs to a sole trader, partnership or limited company, HMRC’s SAV team will either accept the submitted valuation, give their own open market estimate, or state they need more information.

For non-corporate goodwill, the SAV team have the following options for valuing goodwill:

• Accepting the valuation
• Providing an opinion of Open Market Value if the claim appears under or overvalued
• Stating that insufficient information is available to form a view

Corporate goodwill valuations are usually submitted directly to SAV as informal or formal requests. When Trade Related Property is involved, the SAV team will liaise with the Valuation Office Agency.

These are the key issues the SAV team will look at when valuing goodwill:

• the full sale and purchase documentation relating to the transfer of both tangible and intangible assets;
• succession arrangements;
• the valuation approach used – e.g. capitalisation of profits, super profits or a trade specific method;
• the activities of the business and role of the owners within it;
• the financial statements/accounts (including the detailed trading and profit and loss account) for the 3 years before valuation;
• any other relevant financial information;
• appropriate yield and multiples of comparable companies and sectors;
• the commercial and economic background at valuation date;
• how the personal goodwill of the owner has been reflected in the valuation; and
• any other relevant factors.

Open market value must exclude any assumptions about a "special purchaser" unless industry norms support synergy-based premiums.

Despite intense lobbying by the farming community, the proposed reduction in IHT Business and Agricultural Property reliefs are included in the draft Finance Bill 2025-26.

On 21 July 2025, the government published draft legislation for Finance Bill 2025-26. The consultation period for the draft legislation is open until 15 September 2025. This comes at a time when the government has seen borrowing in June surge to the second highest level on record and placing further pressure on public finances and increasing the urgency for tax reforms.

The legislation includes confirmation of a significant overhaul of Inheritance Tax (IHT) reliefs that were first announced in the Autumn Budget 2024. These measures faced criticism over their potential impact on small farms and rural communities. However, with the publication of the Finance Bill, these measures now look set to come into effect from 6 April 2026.

The changes will see the introduction of a new £1 million allowance that will apply to the combined value of property in an estate qualifying for 100% business property relief or 100% agricultural property relief. This means that the existing 100% rate of IHT relief will only apply to the combined value of property in an estate qualifying for 100% business property relief or 100% agricultural property relief. The rate of IHT relief will be reduced to 50% for the value of any qualifying assets over £1 million. This means that any assets receiving 50% relief will be effectively taxed at 20% IHT (the full rate being 40%).

This change applies per individual, meaning married couples could potentially pass on up to £3 million tax-free between them (when combined with nil-rate bands).

The government has also confirmed they will reduce the rate of business property relief available from 100% to 50% in all circumstances for shares designated as “not listed” on the markets of recognised stock exchanges, such as AIM. The existing rate of relief will continue at 50% where it is currently this rate and will also not be affected by the new allowance.

It was also announced that the option to pay IHT by equal annual instalments over 10 years interest-free will be extended to all qualifying property which is eligible for agricultural property relief or business property relief.

It was confirmed with the publication of the draft Finance Bill 2025–26 that measures first announced in the Autumn Budget 2024 to bring most unused pension funds and death benefits into the scope of Inheritance Tax (IHT) will start from 6 April 2027. This will significantly extend the IHT net, capturing pensions that were previously excluded. Individuals with sizeable pensions will need to consider these changes with some care, and review their estate planning accordingly.

This measure will affect individuals inheriting estates within the scope of IHT, including beneficiaries of any unused pension funds or death benefits included in those estates. Personal representatives will be liable for reporting and paying any IHT due on unused pension funds and death benefits.

Death-in-service benefits payable from a registered pension scheme and dependants’ scheme pensions from a defined benefit arrangement, or from a collective money purchase arrangement are excluded from these changes and will not be within the scope of IHT.

There were some changes to the original proposals following a technical consultation that closed in January 2025. As a result, personal representatives, rather than pension scheme administrators, will now be primarily liable for reporting and paying IHT on any unused pension funds and death benefits.

This means that pension scheme administrators and personal representatives will need to work together in administering IHT on pensions. There are concerns that this process could lead to multiple issues, including payment delays, greater complexity and GDPR privacy matters.

A recent ruling affirms that an employer is directly liable for the unauthorised disclosure of an employee's private information. An employee worked at a JD Wetherspoon pub for approximately eighteen months, during which time she provided her contact details, including her mother's mobile number as an "emergency contact phone number". These details were kept in her personnel file, conspicuously marked "Strictly Private and Confidential," and locked in a filing cabinet in the manager's office. She ceased working at the pub before Christmas 2018, and her details were properly retained by the defendant.

Throughout 2018, the claimant endured severe abuse from her then-partner, who was arrested in the autumn and held on remand for serious violence and harassment offences. Due to a history of abuse and her desire to avoid further contact with him, she changed her mobile phone number, rendering the number on file obsolete, although her mother's mobile number remained active.

On Christmas Day 2018, while on remand, her ex-partner obtained a mobile phone and called the Wetherspoons pub, falsely identifying himself as a police officer and claiming an urgent need to contact the claimant. A staff member who knew the claimant consulted with the manager, who then accessed the claimant's confidential personnel file, transcribed her mother's mobile number, and instructed the staff member to provide it to the caller.  

The ex-partner then called the claimant's mother, who was out at a Christmas lunch with her family, including the claimant. Again impersonating a police officer, he persuaded the mother of his urgent need to speak to the claimant, and the phone was passed to her, whereupon she was verbally abused and threatened. Not only had the abusive relationship and her fear of contact been disclosed to the manager on several occasions, but Wetherspoons was aware that "pretexting" is a known threat and that their staff was trained concerning such threats.  

The claimant successfully sought damages pertaining to the misuse of private information and breach of confidence, although claims of further breaches under the Data Protection Act (DPA) 2018 and the General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR) 2018, while initially dismissed, were later upheld by the High Court.

Here, there is a clear distinction drawn between a failure to keep data secure online and an active disclosure of data by the employer's staff. Employers must not only have policies in place but also ensure that they are understood and followed in practice. Such training must be robust and regularly reinforced to avoid being found vicariously liable. It is simply insufficient to have a "Strictly Private and Confidential" label or issue a training manual. An employee's emergency contact details, even if they are those of a relative, constitute private information, and employees have a reasonable expectation of privacy.