HMRC’s refreshed litigation and settlement strategy (LSS) sets out the framework and approach to be adopted by the department when handling and resolving tax disputes subject to civil law procedures. The authors contend that the LSS potentially restricts HMRC from fully exercising its powers as vested by statute and decided by the number of judicial pronouncements in recent years. It narrows the range of reasonable outcomes, particularly in the context of the issue of ‘splitting the difference’, that HMRC may decide to use as a basis for settlement.
