2015 Legal Awards

M&A awards Legal Awards 2015 7 LEGAL awards As is common in these type of appeals the Appellant was alleged to have had knowledge or the means of knowledge that the transactions under consideration were connected to a VAT loss, arising from fraud. The Judgment, released on 20 January disagreed with the HMRC case and effectively exonerated the Appellant from having either direct knowledge that the transactions arose from fraud, or that they ought to have known that their transactions were connected to fraud. The Judgment also makes clear that the directors were vindicated in their belief that at the time they were entering into the relevant transactions, they were normal commercial deals and that they could reasonably expect to have the VAT repaid on the deals, as they would expect in the normal course of business. Whilst the Judgment has no controversial aspects of law to it, it does pass comment on the way that HMRC fought the appeal and in the main they are particular to the case that was actually fought. However the Judge passed comment on the conduct of not only this appeal, but also that of all MTIC ap- peals in general when he stated: “HMRC should consider how and by whom its cases are presented. This is not to suggest that on the evidence before us any different result would have been achieved, but it does raise the question of the value for money of an almost three week trial when the evidence was not there to get the result HMRC wanted”. Clearly Judge Shipwright has made these comments in the context of the evidence that was before him. They should not be discounted as only relating to this appeal though and clearly Judge Shipwright believes greater consideration of evidence should be made by HMRC prior to the engagement of a full appeal. Of course such a system is already in place in HMRC with the Appeals Review Officers that examine every decision, apart it would seem from MTIC appeals. One key element of the Judgment is the approach that Judge Shipwright and the Tribunal took in examin- ing the evidence before them. The Judgment states that though HMRC proceeded look at a whole chain and by asserting there was a tax loss, the only explanation for the Appellant’s transactions were that they were part of the fraud that led to the tax loss. However, this Judgment makes clear that this approach ignores the taxpayers’ position and the Judgment makes clear that this is something that the Tribunal should take into account. Perhaps the best description of such an approach is that the Tribunal, certainly in the present case, has decided to look through the eyes of the Appellant to decide what they knew, or what they should have known. Whether other Judges will follow this approach or state their approach as baldly as this Judgment does, remains to be seen and will to a certain extent depend on the evidence that is before the court. Services Litigaid Law works in a number of areas together with specialist Counsel and or other nominated experts. They also confirm for the avoidance of doubt that their team has experience in the County Court, High Court, Crown Court, Court of Appeal and the Supreme Court as well as within the Tax Tribunal. They are also experienced in dealing with complaints and investigations before they reach the stage of a court hearing. It is always important to have the correct representation from the start of any dispute. They draw to your attention that if you require assistance with a subject matter that doesn’t appear then they will still be more than happy to help put you in touch with another reputable firm who does. This can take the stress out of your search at what we know is likely to be a time of difficulty and or anxiety. Their extensive services are as follows: • Asset Forfeiture; • Business Crime; • Civil Litigation; • Criminal Defence and Appeals • Clinical Negligence; • Cosmetic Negligence; • Contentious Probate; • Conveyancing; Company: LITIGAID LAW LIMITED Name: Samantha Essenhigh Email: [email protected] Web Address: www.litigaidlaw.co.uk Address: 162 Lord Street, Southport, Merseyside PR9 0QA Telephone: 0044 1704 503 320