Case review: Grays Timber Products Ltd v HMRC

On 3 February the Supreme Court gave judgment against the taxpayer in Grays Timber Products Ltd v Revenue and Customs Commissioners [2010] UKSC 4 (reported at the Special Commissioners as Company A v HMRC). This is not only the first tax case to be heard in the Supreme Court but also the first reported case on the employment-related securities rules in ITEPA 2003 Part 7. Lord Hope and Lord Walker delivered judgments (with which the rest of the Court concurred) expressing some of the frustration with the scheme of that legislation that practitioners have felt. While the case offers helpful confirmation of some valuation principles its facts and history through the courts mean that important points with serious implications for practitioners remain undecided.