HMRC’s statement of case was not defective

The taxpayer’s main appeal was against HMRC’s allocation of a scheme reference number under the disclosure of tax avoidance scheme (DOTAS) regime in respect of arrangements it promoted. The taxpayer had also applied for judicial review challenging HMRC’s decision to publish its name address and details of the arrangements but these were dropped before the hearing.

In this initial hearing the taxpayer asked the First-tier Tribunal to strike out HMRC’s statement of case on the basis that it was defective.

Counsel for the taxpayer argued that the dispute arose out of ‘penal legislation which HMRC persuaded parliament to enact’ and it was ‘contradictory to fundamental principles of English law’. Therefore the DOTAS legislation should be interpreted ‘restrictively’ and the tribunal should ensure that HMRC complied ‘rigorously’ with the Tribunal Rules.

Counsel went on to say there were inconsistencies in the statement of case some of which...