Unpublished Special Commissioners’ decisions must stay under wraps to maintain justice and fairness
KEY POINTS
- Historically HMRC have sought to rely on unpublished Special Commissioners’ decisions.
- Decisions unfavourable to HMRC may be ignored and taxpayers are unaware of these.
- The First-tier Tribunal holds that unpublished decisions must be ignored to ensure a fair trial.
- The tax significance of sources of interest.
- The source of interest must be determined using a multi-factorial approach.
The recent First-tier Tribunal (FTT) judgment in Ardmore Construction Ltd v HMRC TC/2011/07724 concerns two issues one procedural and the other substantive and each in its own way is of great importance to taxpayers.
The procedural issue relates to whether a party in tribunal proceedings can cite an unpublished Special Commissioners’ decision. The FTT held that it cannot.
The substantive issue is the correct test for identifying the location...
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