Request to disclose mutual agreement procedure documents

A dispute arose between the taxpayer and HMRC over his tax residence for the years 2006-07 and 2007-08. The taxpayer argued that he was not resident in the UK but if he was he was also resident in Belgium. When an individual is resident in both jurisdictions article 4(2) of the UK/Belgium double taxation treaty has a tie-breaker to establish in which country the person is resident. He also invoked the mutual agreement procedure (MAP) under art 25 but this resulted in the UK and Belgian tax authorities concluding he was UK resident.

HMRC issued closure notices and assessed him to income tax and capital gains tax.

The taxpayer appealed. He asked the First-tier Tribunal to direct HMRC to disclose documents relating to the MAP but the tribunal refused on the basis that the documents were not relevant.

The appeal progressed to the Upper Tribunal. The taxpayer said the lower...