Q&A: Supreme Court finds for Danish tax authority

The Supreme Court has unanimously found in favour of the Danish tax authority (SKAT) in Skatteforvaltningen v Solo Capital Partners LLP and others [2023] UKSC 40. The court held that SKAT’s claims against various parties involved in the ‘cum-ex’ scandal were not inadmissible as a result of the revenue rule – essentially this is not an attempt to enforce Danish tax laws in the English courts. This means that the claims can proceed to a full trial (scheduled to start in April 2024).

What are the facts of this case?

The background to this case is the vast ‘cum-ex’ scandal which has hit many European jurisdictions including Denmark. Broadly this was a tax arbitrage scheme targeting legislative provisions which permitted non-resident shareholders to reclaim income tax withheld on dividend payments. In essence cum-ex involved reclaiming withholding tax multiple times as the same shares were transferred rapidly between...