Peter Harris

Call date: 1980

An Associate Member of Addington’s Chambers, Peter has a bi-lingual French and English practice assisting clients and professionals in matters arising between France and the United Kingdom. He practices from www.overseaschambers.com in Jersey Channel Islands where he is regulated by the JFSC as a legal practitioner.

Peter has intervened in several areas of EU private International law with fiscal implications, specifically in the areas of the recent Succession Regulation and Matrimonial Property Régime Regulation.

He has also practiced in the fiscal implications of Shari’ah law in France, and for example, advised City Solicitors on obtaining recognition of Saudi Treaty residence for a deceased in a French succession issue by a post mortem payment of Zakat to a Saudi Mosque.

His English practice is primarily an advisory capacity in Revenue, Probate, Chancery or Commercial issues in England, and assists English clients in French legal and fiscal issues in areas of property law, succession, and trusts. He accepts instructions in French and in English from an international clientele.

Practice areas

Tax Chancery and Commercial French revenue law and related legal issues EU law

Current Specialisations

Tax disputes: preparation and resolution with HMRC and French Tax administration. The use of UK structures, LPs and LLPs as investment holding vehicles for Private Equity and Fund investments in the UK and in Europe by French residents, pre and post Brexit. The tax treatment of civil law property structures in England; usufruits. matrimonial property régimes etc., gifts and other transfers between France and the UK. Tax Treaties between France and the United Kingdom: Income tax, Corporation and Succession duty. The taxation of trusts in France.

Recent Instructions

Advising a family on whether a Trust fell foul of the French 2011 legislation: advice confirmed by a decision of Tribunal de 1er instance de Paris and upheld on appeal. Issues of domiciles of dependency prior to the 1973 Act and reversion to the dependant spouse’s domicile of origin when the husband deceased prior to 1974. Successful negotiations with HMRC on French Usufruits. Use of the notion of jouissance. Advising on the tax and compliance treatment of English LLPs in a Franco-British investment context. Assisting the Centre notarial de droit Européen at Lyon in implementing a system for succession to for French immovables using the pre-1897 English common law jurisdictional rules when the succession is governed by English law. Intervention with Taxud3 of the European Commission on a breach of the Freedom of movement of capital. SDLT: classification of usufruit/nue-propriété dismemberments as not constituting apparent ownership in the context of the Temporary Relief scheme.

Publications

 

Droit et Patrimoine: La requalification abusive de l’usufruit en trust ou settlement enfin révisée. DROIT & PATRIMOINE n N°238 n JUILLET 2014.

Droit et Patrimoine: Le traitement de la donation de la nue-propriété d’un immeuble français par une personne « domiciled » au Royaume-Uni : DROIT & PATRIMOINE N°193 – JUIN 2010.

The Tax Planning Review: Usufruits: The Freedom of Movement of Capital and their Taxation in the EU : The Tax Planning Review, Volume 1, 2012-13

The Tax Planning Review: French Usufruits and s.43(2) IHTA 1984 Carrying burning coals to Newcastle in the flickering light of Philipson-Stow v. IRC. The Tax Planning Review, Volume 7, 2018-19.

British Tax Review: Abus de droit in the Field of Value Added Taxation. [2003] BTR: No.2 p. 131.

Conveyancer and Property Lawyer: The convention d’indivision and the tontine: a short comparison of two methods of owning French residential property. Conv. 2001, Mar/Apr, 141-153. Co-authored with Stephen Smith, Solicitor.

Speaking and lecturing

Digital Services Taxation: Jersey Business School. Oxford Offshore Symposium: Jesus College (2006 – 2011). Lecturer in French TVA at Queen Mary’s College, London (2004 – 2005). STEP Jersey: Tontines.

Peter is licensed for  Direct access instructions, Administration of Oaths, Immigration and Probate activities.

Europa Instituut of the University of Amsterdam: Dip ICEI in European law and international taxation (international Bureau of Fiscal Documentation). (1979 – 1980). & Refresher course in Competition, State Aid and Institutional law (1991). Bar Finals: Core subjects with Revenue law and EC law (1977 – 1978). LL.B (Hons) Victoria University of Manchester: core subjects with Roman Law, Conflict of Laws, the Law of the EC, Constitutional law, Jurisprudence. (1975 – 1977). 1st Year English language and Literature B.A. (Hons.); option French literature (1974 – 1975).