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Up the garden path?
Key points
- In Beardwood the tribunal held that a taxpayer should have been able to rely on HMRC’s guidance.
- HMRC’s approach differed even though spouses were in the same tax position.
- In Aozora GMAC Investment Ltd HMRC’s guidance was incorrect but the taxpayer had not relied on it specifically.
- Reliance on legitimate expectation may depend on whether the outcome would amount to an abuse of power.
- A delay of more than three years in making a disclosure will affect the possible penalty reductions.
The question of whether HMRC’s guidance can be relied on and if so to what extent has featured in several court cases. And if UK taxpayers cannot rely on HMRC guidance they and their advisers are compelled to question its purpose.
As an example in the 2018 case of Beardwood (TC6357) the taxpayer had reviewed HMRC’s guidance to confirm whether he needed to file a...
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