JP Gilchrist Trust v HMRC Case number: FTC/89/2012

September 2014 #142

Mr Gilchrist settled property on trust on 17 May 1993. Under the terms of the trust, he was entitled to a life interest in the trust property. On 4 June 1993, the trustees exercised an overriding power of appointment to appoint 20% of the fund (the appointed fund) out of the main fund, on discretionary trust for the benefit of members of Mr Gilchrist’s family. Mr Gilchrist and his spouse were excluded from any benefit in the discretionary trust. Mr Gilchrist then gifted £44,000 to the trustees. The trustees used the funds to contribute to Whitecroft Limited, in which the trust held...

Ramsay v HMRC [2013] UKUT 0226 (TCC)

December 2013 #135

The appellant appealed against a decision of the First-tier Tribunal (FTT). The issue before the FTT was whether Mrs Ramsay had transferred to TPQ Developments Ltd (TPQ) a ‘business as a going concern’ in exchange for shares issued by TPQ so as to qualify for roll-over relief under s162 Taxation of Chargeable Gains Act 1992 (TCGA 1992). The FTT found that what Mrs Ramsay had transferred to TPQ was not a business within the meaning of s162 of the TCGA 1992.

Mr and Mrs Ramsay owned a property known as Moat House in Belfast (the property). On 1...

HMRCC v Hanson [2013] UKUT 0224 (TCC)

July/August 2013 #131

Mr Hanson (the respondent) is the trustee for a trust created in 1957 by his grandfather, which gave his father Joseph Hanson (the deceased) a life interest. The trust consisted of a house in Milton Keynes.

The deceased lived in the house until 1978 and when he moved out the respondent moved in. There was no change in ownership of the property. The Hansons are a farming family and at the time of his father’s death the respondent owned and farmed 128 acres of land nearby, he rented a further 28 acres and farmed an additional 67 acres co-owned by him and the deceased and ran t...

HMRC v Pawson [2013] UKUT 050 (TCC)

April 2013 #128

The Commissioners for Her Majesty’s Revenue and Customs (HMRC) appealed from the decision of the Tax Chamber of the First tier Tribunal (FTT) dated 14 December 2011 ([2012] WTLR 665) to allow an appeal against a notice of determination dated 1 October 2008. The respondents were the personal representatives of Nicolette Vivian Pawson (Mrs Pawson). The notice had determined that Mrs Pawson’s 25% interest in a property known as Fairhaven, Thorpeness, Suffolk (Fairhaven) was subject to inheritance tax on a deemed disposal at the date of her death. Fairhaven was a large bungalow o...

Pope & ors v HMRCC [2012] UKUT 206 (TCC)

March 2013 #127

Jason Pope (Mr Pope) was a geologist who worked for a mining company in Angola. On 8 November 1998 Mr Pope went missing and it is believed he was abducted by Unita rebels. Nothing has been heard of him since that date. Prior to his death, Mr Pope assured his own life in the sum of £100,000 under a life assurance policy dated 15 April 1996 with Equitable. The assured sum was payable to Mr Pope or his personal representatives upon Equitable receiving satisfactory proof of Mr Pope’s death. Following negotiations with Mrs Pope’s mother, acting as his attorney pursuant to a power ...

Buzzoni & ors v HMRCC [2012] UKUT 360 (TCC)

January/February 2013 #126

On 5 June 1996 Mrs Kamhi purchased a lease (the headlease) of a flat in Knightsbridge, London. On 21 November 1997 Mrs Kamhi granted an underlease (the underlease) to Ovalap Nominees Ltd. The underlease was granted without rent or premium being payable. On the same day Mrs Kamhi created by deed a settlement. The trustee was Legis Trust Ltd and the trust property was the underlease. Ovalap entered into the underlease as bare nominee for Legis Trust Ltd.

On 24 March 2004 Parkside (Knightsbridge) Residents Ltd then granted Mrs Kamhi a new lease over the flat commencing 1 April 2003. ...

HMAG v Charity Commission & ors FTC/84/2011

July/August 2012 #121

A Notice of Reference dated 27 January 2011 was made by Her Majesty’s Attorney General following concerns expressed by the Charity Commission that the Charities Act 2006 (2006 Act) had cast doubt on the continued charitable status of certain charitable trusts. The trusts affected were trusts for the relief of poverty where the class of potential beneficiaries were defined by a family relationship, employment or former employment status or membership of an unincorporated association. There were 11 parties and 19 interveners. Other than the Charity Commission, each of the pa...

HMRC v Atkinson & anr [2011] UTUK B26 (TCC)

March 2012 #117

Mr Atkinson (D) bought his farm in 1957. The farmhouse was occupied by his son and daughter-in-law, and he lived in a separate bungalow on the farm. In 1996, after his son died, D entered into partnership with his daughter-in-law and grandson and the farm was leased to the partnership. There was no separate arrangement for the bungalow. The farming records were kept there and partnership meetings were often held there. In 2002, D fell ill and eventually moved into a care home. His things remained in the bungalow, which he visited from time to time, but he did not live there again. Howeve...

The Independent Schools Council v The Charity Commission [2011] UKUT 421 (TCC)

January/February 2012 #116

The Independent Schools Council (ISC) brought an application for judicial review, seeking an order to quash certain parts of guidance issued by the Charity Commission (CC) comprising the ‘Charities and Public Benefit – the Charity Commission’s General Guidance on Public Benefit’ (issued January 2008) and ‘Public Benefit and Fee Charging’ and ‘The Advancement of Education for the Public Benefit’ (both issued in December 2008). ISC alleged that the guidance included errors of law in respect of the public benefit requirement as applied to ...