M Springthorpe v HMRC

In M Springthorpe v HMRC (TC00832 – 10 December) an individual (S) was divorced in 1997. He sold his former matrimonial home in November 1998 and began staying with his brother. In November 1999 he purchased a house which was in very poor condition. He began renovating it and in July 2000 he let it to students. He sold it in 2005. HMRC formed the opinion that the house had never been S’s principal private residence and issued an amendment to S’s self-assessment for 2005/06. S appealed contending that the house had been his principal private residence between November 1999 and July 2000 when he began living with a widow. The First-Tier Tribunal reviewed the evidence in detail and dismissed S’s appeal finding that he had ‘failed to discharge the burden of proof’ that he had occupied the house as his residence. Judge Brannan observed that...