In R (on the application of Vital Nut Co. Ltd and another) v HMRC [2016] EWHC 1797 (19 July 2016) the High Court dismissed a claim for judicial review of advance payment notices (APNs) which relied on an argument that the claimants had not known HMRC’s position.
The High Court accepted that the notice requirement for the issue of a valid APN could not be satisfied unless the designated officer had determined that the claimed tax advantage was disputed. The claimants argued that no such determination had been made. The underlying issue was whether employer contributions have to give rise to an employment income charge to satisfy the definition of ‘qualifying benefits’. This could lead to an argument that an employment income tax charge had arisen that was now barred by limitation and that statute barred charge meant that the claim for relief from corporation tax was...
