In R Gill v HMRC [2018] UKFTT 245 (1 May 2018) the FTT found that a securities trader did trade on a commercial basis (ITA 2007 s 66) despite what HMRC called his ‘risk friendly’ attitude.
Mr Gill bought and sold shares. The issue was whether he carried out a trade and if so whether he did so on a commercial basis with a view to profit. The FTT referred to Lewis Emanuel (1965) 42 TC 369 as authority for the proposition that dealing in securities can be a trade. It also noted that as in Lewis Emanuel the size and frequency of the dealing activities and the rapid and continuous turnover pointed towards a trade. It added that Mr Gill had a ‘deliberate and organised scheme of profit-making’; and although his scheme had not delivered profits during the relevant year it...
