Hypothetical contracts were part and parcel of the business

In 1996 the BBC required Mr Chiles to cease his employment and offer his services through a personal service company. This he did through his company – Basic Broadcasting Ltd (BBL) - and he continued to present various programmes until 2010 when he began providing his services for ITV.

The taxpayer’s appeals covered five years and five separate contracts three with ITV for presenting specific television shows and two with the BBC for presenting radio shows. During those years the company also entered into another 40 contracts with 25 different third parties for Mr Chiles’s services.

HMRC issued assessments for the years 2012-13 to 2016-17 saying BBL owed income tax and National Insurance under the intermediaries legislation (ITEPA 2003 s 48 to s 61). It claimed that the hypothetical contracts - between the BBC and ITV on the one hand and Mr Chiles on...