In Mirror Image Contracting Ltd v HMRC (TC02350 – 20 November) an unmarried couple (S and J) had incorporated a company (M) in 2004 to carry out construction work. J owned 51% of the shares while S owned 49% of the shares and controlled M’s finances. In 2008 S and J separated. S withdrew more than £110 000 from M’s bank accounts. He also sold M’s van and used the proceeds to buy a car which he registered in his own name. HMRC issued an amendment to M’s self-assessment for the year ended March 2009 charging tax under what is now CTA 2010 s 455 on the amounts which S had withdrawn from M. The First-tier Tribunal (FTT) dismissed M’s appeal against this amendment. Judge Aleksander also observed that the effect of the decision in Bamford v ATA Advertising...
