James Kirby is a Chancery barrister with a particular interest in private client work (both contentious and non-contentious), Court of Protection and capital taxes.
James appears regularly in the High Court and County Court, and has also appeared in the First-tier Tribunal (Tax Chamber) and the Court of Protection. He is equally happy being instructed on his own account or as a junior within a wider team.
Before becoming a barrister, James was a Research Fellow in History at Trinity College, Cambridge.
Capital Taxes
James’ experience relating to capital taxes includes:
- Advising on whether substantial lifetime gifts triggered a pre-owned assets tax charge or constituted gifts with reservation of benefit
- Advising on claiming residential nil-rate band after the expiry of the two-year period
- Advising on the grossing up for IHT purposes of a legacy to pay tax on settled property
- Advising executors on the deductibility of liabilities for IHT purposes
- Advising on and drafting a s.144 appointment from a nil-rate band trust
- Drafting correspondence with HMRC
- Drafting s.142 deeds of variation
- Advising on IHT domicile issues
James also has experience of tax litigation as junior counsel for HMRC in a series of cases concerning partnership income tax avoidance schemes: Odey Asset Management LLP v HMRC [2021] UKFTT 31 (TC) and HFFX LLP v HMRC [2021] UKFTT 36 (TC).
Qualifications
- Bar Professional Training Course (Outstanding), City Law School (2017)
- Graduate Diploma in Law (Distinction; Equity & Trusts Prize), City Law School (2016)
- Princess Royal Scholarships, Inner Temple (BPTC and GDL)
- DPhil in History, Balliol College, Oxford (2014)
- MSt in History (Distinction), Balliol College, Oxford (2011)
- BA in History (First Class – highest in university), Balliol College, Oxford (2010)
Associations & Memberships
- Member of the Chancery Bar Association
- Member of the Court of Protection Bar Association
- Fellow of the Royal Historical Society
Publications
James is an editor of the forthcoming edition of Williams on Wills (11th edn)
‘Tax Planning in the Court of Protection’, Lawskills (Sep. 2018)
James has also published a number of articles in leading historical journals and a book (on 19th-century religious history) with Oxford University Press.
James Kirby is a self-employed, independent barrister whose practice is regulated by the Bar Standards Board [Bar Council Ref 69244]. He is fully insured with the Bar Mutual Indemnity Fund [BMIF Ref 2360/079] to provide legal services, please refer to the BMIF website for full details of the world-wide cover provided. He is registered for VAT under the reference 304589790.
