Readers’ forum: Jamaican income

We are reviewing the affairs of a client who is a national of and tax resident in Jamaica who has no UK income other than interest of £12 000 per annum received on a loan made by her to an unconnected UK limited company on a commercial basis.

The UK payer company deducted tax at source on payments of interest to our client on the following basis: for 2019-20 tax withheld at basic rate (20%) and for 2020-21 tax withheld at treaty rate of 12.5% (following clearance by HMRC).

I am not clear on the interaction of the different provisions in this respect (primarily ITA 2007 s 811) and would appreciate comments by readers on the following:

• whether filing a tax return for 2019-20 would enable the client to reclaim the difference of 7.5% between what he should have been taxed under the treaty (12.5%)...