Tax paid twice

Application of the Human Rights Act to TMA 1970 s 29

The taxpayer a barrister moved from the cash to the true and fair basis of accounting for tax purposes under FA 1998 s 42. He had overpaid tax for 2006/07 but HMRC rejected his claim for repayment on the ground that it was out of time. It raised discovery assessments for underpayments in 2005/06 and 2007/08. The taxpayer argued that his claim for repayment should be offset against the tax due on those assessments.

He argued that the application of the time limits had led to him paying tax twice on the same profits and this contravened the Human Rights Act 1998. It was not proportionate under the European Convention on Human Rights (ECHR) Protocol 1 Article 1 (A1P1) for HMRC to pursue him for tax he had already paid on the same...