Peter Silvester v HMRC

In Peter Silvester v HMRC [2015] UKFTT 532 (30 October 2015) the FTT found that loss relief on farming activities was not available.

Mr Silvester appealed against assessments disallowing loss relief (ITA 2007 s 64 et seq.) in relation to his sheep farming activities. The question was whether s 67 prevented the deduction on the basis that a loss had been made in Mr Silvester’s trade in each of the previous five tax years. Section 67 does not apply however where the farming activities meet the ‘reasonable expectation of profit’ test in s 68.

The first issue was whether s 67 only applies to hobby farming. Agreeing with HMRC the FTT found that the mention of hobby farming in the cross-heading to ss 67–80 did not mean that the legislation was restricted to hobby farmers. The FTT pointed out that French [2014] UKFTT 940 was...