In S Mullens v HMRC [2023] UKUT 244 (TCC) (2 October 2023) the Upper Tribunal (UT) held that HMRC had met the burden of proof in making discovery assessments and associated penalty assessments on a series of payments received by the taxpayer and dismissed the appeals.
The taxpayer (M) was a solicitor who acted as adviser to the Ecclestone family interests. Over a number of years he received six payments totalling £40m. M did not include the payments in his tax returns contending that they were gifts. HMRC issued discovery assessments in respect of payments 1 to 5 relying on TMA 1970 s 29(4) that there was a loss of tax attributable to careless or deliberate conduct by M. They issued an enquiry closure notice in respect of payment 6. The assessment in respect of payment 5 was made within the normal time limits but those...
