Needless delay

The appellant employer appealed against two decisions issued by HMRC that it was liable to pay primary and secondary class 1 National Insurance on the exercise by employees of share options in Greem.

One set of options had been granted by the Blue employee benefit trust to employees between 1997 and 2000.

During this time the employees were employed by Yellow who had seconded most of them to the appellant. None was actually employed by Blue. In the second period 1999 to 2000 around two-thirds of the employees were employed by Blue.

Blue applied for a preliminary hearing to determine who was the employer for the purposes of the appeal.

Disallowing the application the tribunal judge said that the facts concerned the period 1997 to 2000.

Even if the preliminary hearing went ahead the substantive appeal could still concern the second period...