In the case of R (on the application of Cartref Care Home) [2019] an application was made for a Judicial Review to quash Partnership Follower Notices and Loan Charge Notices on the basis they were not compatible with the Human Rights Act 1998. The application was dismissed, but as HMRC seek to deal with the loan charge issue, it is likely that this type of court case will occur quite regularly.
The First-tier Tribunal has allowed an appeal and cancelled penalties for failing to file a partnership tax return on time. The burden of proof was on HMRC to show the penalty notices has been validly issued. However HMRC had not been able to demonstrate that an actual partnership existed in the relevant tax year.
The First-tier Tribunal has allowed HMRCʼs application for a third-party information notice, allowing HMRC to obtain more details and records from a liquidated companyʼs former accountants and tax advisers with the aim to making the companyʼs director at the time personally liable for the Pay As You Earn and National Insurance Contributions owned by the company.
The Upper Tribunal has ruled that the taxpayer should be allowed to offset losses arising from a trade carried on through a permanent establishment (PE) in the United Kingdom (as it would have been subject to corporation tax in the UK if it had been profitable) against profits chargeable to income tax from a lettings business not carried on by the permanent establishment.
In the case of Cooke, the First-tier Tribunal allowed a taxpayerʼs appeal against a discovery assessment. The Tribunal judges found that although the taxpayerʼs self assessment return included an excessive claim to double tax relief, the error had not been brought about carelessly or deliberately by the taxpayerʼs agent, and an HMRC officer could have been genuinely and reasonably expected to have identified the error in the return based on the information available therein.
Three individuals including two men and one woman have been arrested after a suspected £1m tax fraud. Over 120 HMRC officers raised 16 business premises and 2 residential homes and confiscated computer and physical records. Those arrested have been released on bail. Their names and addresses have not yet been released as these are usually made public once the individuals have been convicted and sentenced. Read more..