Casual attitude

Was a trade carried out on a commercial basis?

The taxpayer claimed to have a car hire business and a trade in foreign exchange. He incurred losses from those activities and sought to set them against his other income. HMRC refused saying he had not carried on a trade commercially (ITA 2007  s 66).

The First-tier Tribunal accepted that the hiring of his car for one wedding in 2000 and its use as a prop by Pinewood Studios had constituted a trade. However the car was stolen in 2001 and between that year and 2006 he did not carry on the activity. Further the loss-making nature of his arrangement with Pinewood Studios and the absence of any other wedding business indicated that his trade was casual and had no commercial basis.

For the years 2006 to 2009 the taxpayer’s car hire activities had been as an...