Share dealing activity did not amount to a trade

The taxpayer was a partner in a professional firm. He retired from the firm in January 2016 having been on garden leave since 1 December 2015. During the period 2006 to 2012 he bought and sold shares in a personal capacity and HMRC treated these as capital transactions. Before handing in his notice the taxpayer resumed making share transactions on his own account. He made losses on these deals in 2015-16 and 2016-17 and claimed loss relief on the basis that they arose from share trading activities.

In May 2017 the taxpayer took up a new employment in part because he had concluded that the income from his share transactions was not adequate to support his outgoings. By April 2018 he had sold all but three of the shareholdings.

HMRC refused the claim on the basis that the activities did not amount to a trade or if...