De Silva and Another, Regina (on The Application of) v Revenue and Customs: SC 15 Nov 2017

The appellants had entered into certain partnerships designed to mitigate liability too income tax by creating trading losses through investments in films. HMRC rejected the claims. HMRC then sought to backdate adjustments to the carry-back claims involved. The tax payers now appealed from findings that the adjustments were not outside the statutory time limit, saying that their claims for relief by carrying back losses are not claims made in their self-assessment tax returns under section 8 of the TMA but are to be regarded as ‘stand-alone’ claims for relief which are not made in tax returns and which HMRC could challenge only under Schedule 1A to the TMA.
Held: The appeal failed. By s 8 TMA the taxpayer having been given a notice to file a return must give the information needed to show the amount for which he was chargeable to income tax, including any share of partnership income or losses for the period which fell within the year of assessment. If he wanted to carry back any part of his later partnership losses to set off against his liability to income tax for an earlier year, he must make that claim in his return for the later year. The revenue may use 9A, to inquire into anything contained in the return, or which should have been contained in the return, and could therefore inquire into the taxpayer’s carry back claims contained in the later tax returns and the Revenue did not have to start an inquiry under Schedule 1A in order to challenge those claims.

Judges:

Lord Neuberger, Lord Kerr, Lord Reed, Lord Hughes, Lord Hodge

Citations:

[2017] UKSC 74, [2017] 1 WLR 4384, [2017] WLR(D) 760, UKSC 2016/0053

Links:

Bailii, Bailii Summary, WLRD, SC, SC Summary, SC Summary video, SC 2017 Jun 22 am Video, SC 2017 Jun 22 pm Video

Statutes:

Taxes Management Act 1970 12AC(1), Finance (No 2) Act 1992 42

Jurisdiction:

England and Wales

Citing:

At UTTCDe Silva and Another v Revenue and Customs UTTC 15-Apr-2014
Film partnerships – partnership trading losses – inclusion of trading losses in partners’ self-assessment tax returns – claims to utilise those losses for carry back relief- means of challenge available to HMRC . .
Appeal fromDe Silva and Another, Regina (on The Application of) v HM Revenue and Customs CA 2-Feb-2016
. .
CitedCotter v Revenue and Customs SC 6-Nov-2013
This appeal asked as to the boundary between the jurisdiction of the First-tier Tribunal (Tax Chamber) and that of the county court or the High Court, and the legality of the approach which the Revenue took to entries which Mr Cotter, had made in a . .
Lists of cited by and citing cases may be incomplete.

Taxes Management, Income Tax

Updated: 05 November 2022; Ref: scu.599380