In A Banks v HMRC [2020] UKUT 101 (TCC) (1 April) the Upper Tribunal dismissed the taxpayer’s appeal against the FTT’s decision denying him exemption from inheritance tax on donations made to a political party.
Mr Banks appealed against a charge to inheritance tax on donations of just under £1m made by him to UKIP in late 2014 and early 2015. The only issue in dispute was whether the donations qualified for relief under IHTA 1984 s 24 as donations to a political party.
The taxpayer accepted that on its strict terms the exemption did not apply because UKIP did not satisfy the conditions for relief when the donations were made: that at the previous general election it needed either to have had two MPs elected or to have had one MP elected and gained at least 150 000 votes. He argued however that the conditions constituted a breach of his human rights and of EU law. In...
