Reed v Clark: ChD 1986

The taxpayer defendant (C) had been both resident and ordinarily resident in the UK. He moved to Los Angeles in 1978 making his home and business there until May 1979, when, not having set foot in the UK in the interim, he returned to reside in the UK. The Commissioners ruled that he had not been resident nor ordinarily resident in the UK in 1978-79. The Revenue appealed.
Held: The appeal failed. Nicholls J rejected arguments that (a) on the primary facts found by the commissioners Mr Clark had been so resident and ordinarily resident and (b) for the purposes of the provision (which was then in section 49 of the Income and Corporation Taxes Act 1970) he had left the UK for the purpose only of occasional residence abroad.
The court accepted the Revenue’s submission that the provision brought into the tax net those who were not resident in the UK at all in the year of assessment, holding that ‘occasional residence’ was the converse of ‘ordinary residence’.

Judges:

Nicholls J

Citations:

[1986] Ch 1

Jurisdiction:

England and Wales

Cited by:

AppliedDavies and Another, Regina (on The Application of) v Revenue and Customs SC 19-Oct-2011
The Revenue had published a booklet, IR20, setting out their approach to the interpretation of the phrases ‘residence’ and ‘ordinary residence’. The taxpayer said that this was a more generous definition than the statutory one, and that having acted . .
Lists of cited by and citing cases may be incomplete.

Income Tax

Updated: 12 April 2022; Ref: scu.450184