On the buses

KEY POINTS * HMRC bears the burden of proving UK residence. * The relevance of the locations and nature of board meetings. * The determination of residence needs to be considered over time. * The difference between taking a decision and implementing it. * The helpfulness of having witness evidence.

COMPANY RESIDENCE CASES in the UK are the proverbial London buses of the tax world: having had to wait ages for one to turn up (almost ten years and before that 35 years) we have recently seen two come along in very quick succession. Furthermore given the outcomes in these two recent cases it seems unlikely that we will have to wait too long for another to be brought before the courts.
In January 2006 the Court of Appeal's judgment in Wood & Another v Holden [2006] STC 443 (see Update Taxation ...