The Upper Tribunal’s decision in HMRC v Burlington Loan Management DAC

In HMRC v Burlington Loan Management DAC [2024] UKUT 00152 (TCC) the Upper Tribunal (UT) dismissed HMRC’s appeal against a decision of the First-tier Tribunal (FTT) that the anti-abuse measure in Article 12(5) of the UK-Republic of Ireland double taxation convention (the UK-Ireland Treaty) did not apply to payments of yearly interest received by an Irish resident company from a UK resident company in respect of a debt claim assigned to the Irish resident company from a company resident in the Cayman Islands. In this article we outline the key issues in the UT’s decision and the key practical considerations for tax practitioners.

Background

Burlington Loan Management DAC (BLM) a company resident in Ireland for the purposes of the UK-Ireland Treaty took an assignment of a debt claim (the SAAD claim) from SAAD Investments Company Limited (SICL) a company resident in the Cayman Islands. The...