Flight of fancy

The taxpayer a UK citizen had been resident in South Africa for some years. While there he had paid for and obtained a South African commercial pilot’s licence.

He wished to return to the UK but to continue as an airline pilot he needed to carry out additional training to become qualified in the UK under the Civil Aviation Authority (CAA).

He undertook the required courses and included the relevant expenses and some travel expenses in his tax return.

HMRC allowed the deduction in part. The taxpayer appealed.

The First-tier Tribunal considered the expenses claimed in three groups. Group A included a distance learning course which the taxpayer carried out while still in South Africa.

The tribunal acknowledged that the course would have helped the taxpayer gain the required knowledge to help him...