In P Harrison v HMRC [2023] UKUT 38 (TCC) (3 February 2023) the UT upheld an income tax discovery assessment in respect of the taxpayer’s share of a ‘finder’s fee’ on the sale of a property. The UT rejected the taxpayer’s argument that the tribunal was not bound by the Supreme Court’s (SC) statements on the concept of ‘staleness’.
The taxpayer was in partnership with his wife as property developers. In 2006 they agreed to buy a property using money they expected to receive in settlement of litigation. The settlement did not however materialise and the property was purchased by the taxpayer’s son and daughter-in-law. They sold it in 2007 and the taxpayer and his wife received £200 000 of the sale proceeds as a ‘finder’s fee’. The taxpayer did not notify his chargeability to tax on his share or file a tax return for that year. In...
