Marathon Oil and the boundaries of purposive construction

The decision of the First-tier Tribunal in Marathon Oil UK LLC casts a fascinating light on the arcane world of relief for the costs of decommissioning oil facilities on the UK continental shelf. The judgment has a wider significance as it explores the scope of purposive construction of tax statutes and what constitutes a realistic view of the facts in the context of an arrangement to prepay the costs of decommissioning. The courts have been clear in their views in relation to artificial and contrived arrangements to conjure expenditure out of thin air. This case extends the principle to the acceleration of what is real expenditure.