Looney and another v HMRC

In Looney and another v HMRC [2020] UKUT 119 (TC) (22 April) the Upper Tribunal dismissed an appeal against a decision of the FTT that a termination payment and other amounts related to a contract entered into by a partnership (KLA) to provide management training were trading receipts of the partnership.

Mr Looney (a partner in KLA) contended that the £1m payment made on early termination of the contract was capital compensation for loss of a secret process in his proprietary performance management system. On this point the UT upheld the decision of the FTT that the payment was compensation for the lost opportunity to profit from the remaining period of the contract and so was a trading receipt of KLA. There was nothing in the contract which transferred intellectual property or secret processes to the customer and nothing in the surrounding circumstances which indicated the payment was...