Judgment has been handed down in Scotts Atlantic Management Limited & Another v The Commissioners for Her Majesty’s Revenue & Customs, in which Richard Coleman QC and James McClelland acted for HMRC in its successful challenge to a tax avoidance scheme involving employee benefit trusts. The Upper Tribunal (Mr Justice Warren and Judge Charles Helier) accepted the argument that the anti-tax avoidance provision contained in Schedule 24 of the Finance Act 2003 should be construed so as to capture a scheme designed to circumvent it. Richard Coleman QC led James McClelland and David Yates (Pump Court Tax Chambers) before the First-tier Tribunal, and David Yates on appeal. The judgment can be accessed here.
