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Corporate residence

02 June 2005 / David Hughes 2
Issue: 4010 / Categories: Comment & Analysis , Capital Gains

DAVID HUGHES reviews the High Court's decision in Wood v Holden.

Corporate residence can be a problematic area. A company may be resident overseas if it can show that its central management and control takes place outside the UK, but if a company only carries out a few transactions (such as the purchase or sale of subsidiaries), what level of involvement is needed to exhibit central management and control?

DAVID HUGHES reviews the High Court's decision in Wood v Holden.

Corporate residence can be a problematic area. A company may be resident overseas if it can show that its central management and control takes place outside the UK but if a company only carries out a few transactions (such as the purchase or sale of subsidiaries) what level of involvement is needed to exhibit central management and control?
In Wood v Holden the High Court upheld an appeal by the taxpayer against the Special Commissioners' decision of 18 May 2004. Mr Justice Park concluded:

'on a proper application of the law to the facts the only tenable conclusion for the Commissioners to reach was that under the common law of corporate residence Eulalia was resident in the Netherlands … the Commissioners must either have applied the wrong test or that if they applied...

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