HMRC v Tower MCashback LLP1 (and cross-appeal): closure notices

In HMRC v Tower MCashback LLP1 (and cross-appeal) (SC – 11 May) where the substantive issue is discussed here the Supreme Court unanimously upheld HMRC’s interpretation of the effect of a closure notice and disapproved Henderson J’s decision in the Ch D.

Lord Walker specifically approved the leading judgment by Moses LJ in the CA and held that ‘in issuing a closure notice an officer is performing an important public function in which fairness to the taxpayer must be matched by a proper regard for the public interest in the recovery of the full amount of tax payable. In a case in which it is clear that only a single specific point is in issue that point should be identified in the closure notice. But if as in the present case the facts are complicated and have...