No agreement

The taxpayer had been in dispute for several years over capital gains tax on a disposal of shares.

The Special Commissioners dismissed his appeal in 2005. He was then rejected by the High Court and the Court of Appeal before his case reverted to the Special Commissioners to determine the gain which was dependent on the market value of the shares at the time of sale.

The matter remained unsettled for some time because HMRC had seen papers subject to legal professional privilege – but the preliminary issue now centred on payment of tax that had been postponed by the Revenue and was now due because the appeals had been settled in principle.

The tax department decided £1 202 494 of the total liability of £8 499 641 should no longer be postponed and on 4 October 2010 sent the taxpayer a notice to pay.

He paid indicating...