In L v HMRC [2024] UKFTT 401 (TC) (17 May 2024) the FTT granted an application by the taxpayer for the hearing of her appeal to be held in private and for the judgment to be published in anonymised form.
The taxpayer applied for a private hearing and anonymisation on two main grounds. The first was that there was a serious risk to her health. She suffered from bipolar disorder and had experienced episodes of psychosis depression and anxiety. The first episode had been triggered by workplace stress and represented the foundation for the discriminatory treatment that the taxpayer considered she had suffered from her employer. The prospect of a public hearing had caused her increased anxiety and it was the opinion of her psychiatrist that there was a high risk of relapse if she were required to face the stress of a public hearing.
The starting point for the...