BPP Holdings: HMRC barred under Mitchell approach

The Court of Appeal has restored the barring order on HMRC originally imposed by the First-tier Tribunal in BPP University College of Professional Studies v HMRC. The judgment holds that the tougher approach to compliance adopted in Mitchell v News Group Newspapers Ltd is equally appropriate in the tax tribunals. BPP successfully argued that, in the circumstances, a barring order had been an appropriate response to HMRC’s unexplained failure to comply with an ‘unless order’. This decision provides a welcome signal that compliance in the tax tribunals is to be taken seriously or the parties risk sanctions.