Smith’s Potato Estates Ltd v Bolland (Inspector of Taxes): HL 1948

The taxpayer claimed to deduct the legal costs of contesting an assessment to tax. The dispute was about the computation of the taxpayer’s profits. It assumed that those profits were ascertainable, one way or another, at the time when the dispute arose. The costs of the dispute could not therefore have been an element in the computation. They were logically as well as temporally subsequent to the profits having been earned.

Citations:

[1948] AC 508

Jurisdiction:

England and Wales

Cited by:

CitedNewsom v Robertson ChD 30-Apr-1952
Mr Newsom, a practising barrister sought to set off against his income, the expenses of travelling between his home and his chambers in London. The Inspector appealed the decision of the commissioners that he could do so. The rule required that the . .
CitedMcKnight (Inspector of Taxes) v Sheppard HL 18-Jun-1999
The taxpayer sought to set off against tax some pounds 200,000 spent defending professional disciplinary proceedings. The House was asked whether this was ‘money wholly and exclusively laid out or expended for the purposes of the trade.’
Held: . .
Lists of cited by and citing cases may be incomplete.

Income Tax

Updated: 29 May 2022; Ref: scu.197027