Upper Tribunal: Tax and Chancery Chamber judgments, 2026

An appeal to the Upper Tribunal may be brought only on a point of law. Permission requires an arguable, material error of law with a realistic prospect of…

Permission to appeal to the Upper Tribunal requires an arguable error of law that was material to the First-tier Tribunal’s decision; the argument must have a…

The statutory VAT hardship inquiry is assessed at the hearing, but earlier events may be considered to identify the real cause of an appellant’s inability to…

For section 159A(4)(b) of the Finance Act 2014, the phrase ‘the gaming’ refers to remote gaming identified at the start of subsection (4), rather than only…

An appeal to the First-tier Tribunal under the Charities Act 2011 lies only where the Charity Commission has made a decision within the statutory appeal…

An appeal from the First-tier Tribunal to the Upper Tribunal lies only on a point of law. Permission requires a realistic prospect of success on an arguable…

On a strike-out application, a tribunal may assess factual and evaluative issues where the evidence before it supports the conclusion that the appeal has no…

Integrity in financial regulation is assessed contextually and objectively. It is broader than honesty and may be absent where a person’s ethical judgment is…

Under paragraph 9 of Schedule 3 to the Social Security (Categorisation of Earners) Regulations 1978, the host employer need not exercise direction or control…

On reconsideration of a paper refusal of permission to appeal, the Upper Tribunal asks whether the renewed grounds disclose an arguable material error in the…

When construing a tax provision, the enacted words and their statutory context remain primary. A tribunal may correct an obvious drafting error only where it…

A protective costs order application in the Upper Tribunal is governed by the Corner House guidelines as refined by later authority, applied flexibly with the…

Permission to appeal to the Upper Tribunal requires a realistic prospect of showing a material error of law. Under section 49 of the Taxes Management Act 1970…

Permission to appeal from a refusal to admit a late tax appeal requires an arguable error of law with a realistic prospect of success. A challenge to the first…

Income derived from immovable property under Article 6 is not confined to rent or income earned while the owner retains the land. A developer’s trading profits…

An appeal on a point of law against findings that a taxpayer knew or should have known its transactions were connected with VAT fraud will fail unless the…

A taxpayer’s reliance on professional advice does not automatically provide a reasonable excuse for failing to comply with an information notice. The tribunal…

For the defeased-leasing rules in Schedule 22, the tribunal must assess the actual arrangements as a whole, including their structural features, and compare…

Permission to appeal requires an arguable material error of law with a realistic prospect of success. A challenge to factual findings must meet the narrow…

For the purposes of section 415(1) of the Income Tax (Trading and Other Income) Act 2005, a debt is written off in a creditors’ voluntary liquidation when the…

Permission to appeal from the First-tier Tribunal is granted where the proposed grounds disclose an arguable error of law material to the outcome, or there is…

For inheritance tax on settled property under the special charging provisions in Part III of the Inheritance Tax Act 1984, section 2(3) deems references to a…

A regulatory decision may be wrong without being unreasonable. Its reasonableness is assessed against the facts known, or which ought to have been known, when…

Under section 105(3), whether a company’s business consists wholly or mainly of making or holding investments is a fact-sensitive evaluation of the business as…

A taxpayer’s communication must be construed by the claim it actually makes. A request to amend a land transaction return to claim multiple dwellings relief…

Overpayment relief under paragraph 34 of Schedule 10 to the Finance Act 2003 is a separate statutory remedy of last resort, with its own time limit and…

On a non-disciplinary reference, the Upper Tribunal conducts supervisory review: it remits a prohibition decision only where the decision is outside the range…

The Kittel test for constructive knowledge remains whether the trader knew or should have known that its transaction was connected with fraudulent VAT evasion.…

An appeal from the First-tier Tribunal to the Upper Tribunal lies only on a point of law. Permission is granted where there is a realistic prospect of success…

Permission to appeal from a tribunal’s case-management decision requires a realistic prospect of showing a material error of law. Appellate intervention is…

Whether construction of a distinct part of a building qualifies for zero-rating under item 2, Group 5, Schedule 8 of the Value Added Tax Act 1994 requires…

An undefined VAT exemption term is construed by its ordinary meaning, context and purpose, but those considerations cannot extend the exemption beyond the…

An appeal from the FTT to the Upper Tribunal lies only on a point of law. Permission is granted where the grounds disclose an arguable material error of law or…

Permission to appeal from the First-tier Tribunal requires an arguable error of law that was material to the decision, with a realistic rather than fanciful…

Permission to raise a new point on appeal depends on the interests of justice, including the nature of the proceedings below, the point itself and prejudice to…

An appeal from the First-tier Tribunal lies only on a point of law. Permission requires a realistic prospect of showing a material error. For the closely…

When considering a late appeal, the tribunal must conduct a balancing exercise that gives particular importance to efficient, proportionate litigation and…

A corporation tax debit under the Corporation Tax Act 2009 requires a sufficient causal connection between the loss and a loan relationship or related…

Permission to appeal a discretionary refusal to admit a late tax appeal requires grounds disclosing an arguable error of law. An appellate tribunal should…

For Taxation of Chargeable Gains Act 1992, section 59A(1), business has its ordinary commercial meaning, is wider than trade and may include investment…

A challenge to a regulator’s decision notice does not displace the presumption of publication or open justice. An applicant seeking to prohibit publication…

For the relevant pre-Brexit VAT periods, a supplier’s knowledge of intra-Community fraud may justify denying the advantage of zero-rating. That denial changes…

Under the statutory tribunal appeal scheme, an FTT’s refusal of permission may be renewed once to the Upper Tribunal. After the Upper Tribunal determines that…

Whether an accounting treatment reflects a transaction’s substance and economic reality is an objective, context-sensitive inquiry. Contemporaneous views may…

Eligibility under the UK VAT grouping rules is defined by reference to the whole body corporate. A conforming construction that limited membership to a UK…

An application to extend time for seeking permission to appeal should be considered through three stages: establish the length of the delay, identify the…

A reference to the Upper Tribunal is a complete rehearing, with the burden of proof on the Authority. In assessing pension-transfer advice, suitability is a…

An appeal from the First-tier Tribunal lies only on a point of law. Permission should be granted where the proposed ground discloses an arguable and material…

Periodic regulatory returns are a central part of the supervisory system, not optional administrative paperwork. An authorised firm’s prolonged and complete…

The expression “made available” in paragraph 9 of Schedule 3 to the Social Security (Categorisation of Earners) Regulations 1978 bears its ordinary meaning. It…

For the purposes of intra-group trade transfers, statutory ring-fencing of oil-related activities must be taken into account when identifying the trade…

The Upper Tribunal may make reporting restrictions under Rule 14 of the Tribunal Procedure (Upper Tribunal) Rules 2008 to protect the identities of alleged…

Article 90(1) of Directive 2006/112/EC permits a post-supply adjustment only where a payment reduces the consideration for a supply into final consumption. The…

For customs classification, the tariff headings and applicable Section and Chapter Notes must be applied hierarchically before resort is made to the…

In adversarial proceedings before the First-tier Tribunal, party autonomy generally entitles represented parties to decide which witnesses to call. The…

Whether land forms part of a dwelling’s “garden or grounds” for Finance Act 2003 purposes is a multifactorial evaluative question. The court must assess all…

For tax purposes, a deliberate inaccuracy does not necessarily involve dishonesty. It requires intentional conduct, including an intention to mislead HMRC as…

For discovery assessments containing several distinct losses of tax, the conduct conditions in Taxes Management Act 1970, section 29, apply to each discovered…

A remittal must be construed objectively, read with the judgment accompanying the order. Where the earlier tribunal has determined the methodology for…

Whether a trade has been begun to be carried on for the purposes of the Enterprise Investment Scheme is determined by applying the statutory words through a…

Section 393 of the Financial Services and Markets Act 2000 concerns prejudicial identification in the terms of the relevant warning or decision notice.…

An appeal to the Upper Tribunal lies only on a point of law, and permission requires an arguable error of law with a realistic prospect of success. The Upper…

Permission to appeal from the First-tier Tribunal is granted only where the proposed grounds disclose an arguable and material error of law, giving the appeal…

Where HMRC intends to rely on findings made in a Kittel appeal as the foundation for a later penalty based on dishonesty, fairness ordinarily requires…

Section 327 of the Corporation Tax Act 2009 applies to an accounting loss arising in connection with a loan relationship even where the loss includes expenses…

Permission to appeal from a refusal to admit a late tax appeal should be granted where the proposed grounds disclose an arguable error of law. In evaluating…

VAT is chargeable when a supplier makes a real supply of availability or access, even if the customer later makes little or no use of it. The correct analysis…

An appeal to the Upper Tribunal lies only on a point of law, and permission requires a realistic prospect that the First-tier Tribunal made a material error of…

A person may lack integrity without dishonesty. Recklessness requires awareness of a risk and an unreasonable decision to take it, assessed subjectively and…

Estoppel by convention may operate against HMRC, but only within the limits imposed by the relevant statutory scheme. It cannot prevent HMRC from performing a…

For Principle 1 of the FCA’s Principles for Business, a firm’s business is identified by considering the employee’s role, the connection between that role and…

An application for permission to appeal lies only on an arguable point of law with a realistic prospect of success. The Upper Tribunal will not re-evaluate…

An appeal may be disposed of by consent order without a hearing where the parties agree the outcome and the Upper Tribunal considers that disposal appropriate…

In an income-tax appeal concerning compensation for mis-sold interest-rate hedging products, basic redress is characterised by identifying what the payment…

For VAT purposes, a condition may constitute a disability even where it does not physically prevent everyday activities. The assessment must include the…

Case A in paragraph 34A of Schedule 10 to the Finance Act 2003 is engaged only where the excessive SDLT was caused by a mistake in the claim or election…

Payments described as the sale of partnership capital interests are not capital receipts merely because the relevant agreement uses that terminology. The court…

For a careless inaccuracy penalty under Schedule 24 to the Finance Act 2007, the statutory phrase “due to” requires a causal link between the taxpayer’s…

An expert’s qualifications and awareness of the duty to the tribunal do not by themselves establish admissibility. The tribunal must assess whether the…

Under paragraph 14 of Schedule 24 to the Finance Act 2007, suspension of a penalty for careless inaccuracy requires a condition that would help the particular…

Permission to appeal from the First-tier Tribunal is granted only where the proposed appeal has a realistic prospect of success on a point of law, or there is…