Synectiv v HMRC

In Synectiv v HMRC [2018] UKFTT 92 (23 February 2018) the FTT found that HMRC had not proven that Synectiv should have known that it was taking part in transactions connected with missing trader intra-community (MTIC) fraud.

The UT had allowed Synectiv’s appeal against the FTT’s decision that the relevant individual Mr Chandoo should have known that the transactions at issue (which involved mobile phones) were connected with MTIC fraud applying the Kittel (Case C-439/04) and Mobilx [2010] EWCA Civ 517 decisions. The decision of the FTT had been set aside and remitted to a differently constituted tribunal.

The FTT observed that the burden of proof was on HMRC and that it represented a high hurdle. It was ‘not enough to show that the trader should have known that he was running a risk that a transaction might be connected with fraud or even that...