Land used for livery business

When she died Mrs Vigne had been the sole owner of 30 acres of land used to provide livery stables. She had lived elsewhere. Her personal representatives claimed business property relief. HMRC refused on the ground that the business was excluded under IHTA 1984 s 105(3) because it consisted mainly of holding investments.

The First-tier Tribunal allowed the taxpayers’ appeal on the basis that the deceased had run a ‘genuine livery business’ that offered more than just the right to occupy land. HMRC appealed saying the tribunal had erred in law in reaching its decision.

The Upper Tribunal said it could overturn the lower tribunal’s decision only if it had applied the wrong legal test or misapplied the correct one. The judge decided that when read as a whole the First-tier Tribunal had applied the correct test. It was clear that it had considered the...