Taxation of investment income of non-UK pension schemes

In BAV-TMW-Globaler-Immobilien Spezialfonds v HMRC [2019] UKFTT 129, the First-tier Tribunal (FTT) considered an appeal on whether income tax paid on property investments in the UK attributable to a German pension scheme was repayable. BAV-TMW-Globaler-Immobilien Spezialfonds (BTI) sought equivalence with predominantly UK pension schemes registered in the UK under the provisions of FA 2004, which were exempt from tax. The FTT found that BTI could not have registered as a pension scheme in the UK to benefit from exemption, which was overtly discriminatory and a breach of EU law.