The NT Advisors Partnership v HMRC

In The NT Advisors Partnership v HMRC [2017] UKFTT 625 (11 August 2017) the FTT found that the business of tax promoters had been effectively transferred so that input tax incurred on the fees charged by tax barristers was recoverable by the transferee of the business.

Three barristers had given advice in connection with cases which involved tax avoidance schemes promoted by NT entities. The barristers had supplied their services to an entity called 2009 LLP which had transferred its business to NT Advisors Partnership under a business purchase agreement (BPA) in March 2015. HMRC would not allow any of the barristers’ invoices under NT Advisors Partnership’s registration as it considered that the services had been supplied to 2009 LLP.

The FTT noted that there was no dispute that the services of the barristers had been provided for the purposes...