In A Beard v HMRC [2024] UKUT 73 (TCC) (22 March 2024) the Upper Tribunal (UT) confirmed the decision of the FTT that distributions received by the taxpayer were (i) dividends for UK tax purposes but (ii) not dividends of a capital nature for the purposes of ITTOIA 2005 s 402(4).
The taxpayer Mr Beard was a shareholder in Glencore Plc a Jersey incorporated and Swiss domiciled company. He received cash distributions between the tax years 2011/12 and 2015/16 which were paid out of the company’s share premium account and a distribution in specie in 2015 (the distributions). HMRC issued a closure notice assessing the Distributions to income tax. Mr Beard appealed on the basis that as they had been paid out of share premium account the Distributions were dividends of a capital nature. This was important because ITTOIA 2005 s 402 provides...