In disputes with HMRC, robust professional witness evidence can be a key factor for taxpayer success. Geoff Lloyd and Yvette Adams (EY) review the rules and lessons from case law.
HMRC the taxman’s published success rate before the courts and tribunals is daunting. HMRC makes much of the fact that it is currently winning more than three-quarters of cases it takes. Unsurprisingly taxpayers’ success in out of court settlements is greater with HMRC’s published figures showing that settlements in well over half of cases submitted to its internal governance procedures are approved in line with the taxpayer’s arguments. But where HMRC refuses an out of court settlement recent experience at the First-tier Tribunal (FTT) shows that robust witness evidence can prevail even where...
