US actress Melissa Joan Hart and her husband, Mark Wilkerson, lived near the Sandy Hook school when that deadly shooting occurred. AFP
US actress Melissa Joan Hart and her husband, Mark Wilkerson, lived near the Sandy Hook school when that deadly shooting occurred. AFP
US actress Melissa Joan Hart and her husband, Mark Wilkerson, lived near the Sandy Hook school when that deadly shooting occurred. AFP
US actress Melissa Joan Hart and her husband, Mark Wilkerson, lived near the Sandy Hook school when that deadly shooting occurred. AFP

Actress Melissa Joan Hart describes helping children escape Nashville shooting


Kyle Fitzgerald
  • English
  • Arabic

US actress Melissa Joan Hart has shared how she and her husband helped rescue pupils and reunite a mother with her children during the Covenant School shooting that left three children and three adults dead.

Hart, whose three children attend a nearby school, said she and her husband were close to the Christian day school in Nashville, Tennessee, when the shooting began.

“We helped a class of kindergartners across a busy motorway that were climbing out of the woods. They were trying to escape the shooter situation at their school,” she said in a video posted on Instagram.

“So we helped these tiny little kids cross the road and get their teachers over there. And we helped a mom reunite with her children.”

The Clarissa Explains It All star posted the video on Tuesday, saying her emotions were “too raw” to post it on Monday after the shooting occurred. She and her family were unharmed.

The actress said in the video that her children had also attended school near Sandy Hook Elementary, the site where 20 children and six teachers were killed in a 2012 mass shooting.

“We moved here from Connecticut, where we were in a school a little ways down the road from Sandy Hook, so this is our second experience with a school shooting with our kids being in proximity.

“I don't know what to say any more. Enough is enough.”

Hart joined actress Julianne Moore and hundreds of parents in a 2016 march across the Brooklyn Bridge in New York City to push for stricter gun control laws.

More than 400 minors have died from gun-related violence in 2023, data from the Gun Violence Archives shows. Nearly 1,000 others have been injured.

Tips for SMEs to cope
  • Adapt your business model. Make changes that are future-proof to the new normal
  • Make sure you have an online presence
  • Open communication with suppliers, especially if they are international. Look for local suppliers to avoid delivery delays
  • Open communication with customers to see how they are coping and be flexible about extending terms, etc
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Ten tax points to be aware of in 2026

1. Domestic VAT refund amendments: request your refund within five years

If a business does not apply for the refund on time, they lose their credit.

2. E-invoicing in the UAE

Businesses should continue preparing for the implementation of e-invoicing in the UAE, with 2026 a preparation and transition period ahead of phased mandatory adoption. 

3. More tax audits

Tax authorities are increasingly using data already available across multiple filings to identify audit risks. 

4. More beneficial VAT and excise tax penalty regime

Tax disputes are expected to become more frequent and more structured, with clearer administrative objection and appeal processes. The UAE has adopted a new penalty regime for VAT and excise disputes, which now mirrors the penalty regime for corporate tax.

5. Greater emphasis on statutory audit

There is a greater need for the accuracy of financial statements. The International Financial Reporting Standards standards need to be strictly adhered to and, as a result, the quality of the audits will need to increase.

6. Further transfer pricing enforcement

Transfer pricing enforcement, which refers to the practice of establishing prices for internal transactions between related entities, is expected to broaden in scope. The UAE will shortly open the possibility to negotiate advance pricing agreements, or essentially rulings for transfer pricing purposes. 

7. Limited time periods for audits

Recent amendments also introduce a default five-year limitation period for tax audits and assessments, subject to specific statutory exceptions. While the standard audit and assessment period is five years, this may be extended to up to 15 years in cases involving fraud or tax evasion. 

8. Pillar 2 implementation 

Many multinational groups will begin to feel the practical effect of the Domestic Minimum Top-Up Tax (DMTT), the UAE's implementation of the OECD’s global minimum tax under Pillar 2. While the rules apply for financial years starting on or after January 1, 2025, it is 2026 that marks the transition to an operational phase.

9. Reduced compliance obligations for imported goods and services

Businesses that apply the reverse-charge mechanism for VAT purposes in the UAE may benefit from reduced compliance obligations. 

10. Substance and CbC reporting focus

Tax authorities are expected to continue strengthening the enforcement of economic substance and Country-by-Country (CbC) reporting frameworks. In the UAE, these regimes are increasingly being used as risk-assessment tools, providing tax authorities with a comprehensive view of multinational groups’ global footprints and enabling them to assess whether profits are aligned with real economic activity. 

Contributed by Thomas Vanhee and Hend Rashwan, Aurifer

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Updated: April 12, 2023, 1:50 PM