HMRC will be able to depart from its own guidance if it believes that tax avoidance might be involved, as the decision in Samarkand illustrates. Jeanette Zaman and Owen Williams (Slaughter and May) consider the uphill struggle that taxpayers could face to prove they have a substantive legitimate expectation.
The UT’s decision in the
tax appeal – namely that the partnerships were not carrying on a trade and that in any event such trade was not conducted on a commercial basis in the relevant periods – is in line with the recent decision of the Court of Appeal in Eclipse Film Partners No. 35 v HMRC [2015] EWCA Civ 95 on which much...
