Golamreza Qolaminejite (aka A Cooper) v HMRC [2021] UKUT 118 (TCC) (21 May 2021) concerned income tax and VAT assessments raised on the appellant for multiple tax years and associated penalties to the extent that these had been upheld by the First-tier Tribunal (FTT).
The taxpayer (C) appealed to the Upper Tribunal (UT) on a number of discrete grounds. Most of these were specific to the facts of the case but they also included the question of the burden of proof. There was no dispute that the burden of proof lies on the taxpayer in relation to appeals against tax assessments and that the test is the civil standard: the balance of probabilities.
The issue before the FTT was whether C could establish that the amounts assessed did not represent trading income. C had received a number of deposits and argued that these represented bank loans interest-free...
