Accuro Trust (Switzerland) and excluded property

Here is a situation no one wants to find themselves in: you pay HMRC £1.7m in inheritance tax that you mistakenly believe that you owe. You subsequently discover that the tax is not owed and you ask HMRC for a repayment. HMRC carefully considers the position and politely declines. What happens next? You will find the answer of the First-tier Tribunal (FTT) in the 75-page judgment in Accuro Trust (Switzerland) SA (TC9501).

The background

Before 22 July 2020 when new legislation was introduced to ‘clarify’ the position non-UK property held in a settlement was not within the scope of inheritance tax if the settlor was not domiciled or deemed domiciled in the UK when the settlement was made.

HMRC’s long held and stated view was that additions to a settlement after the settlor became UK domiciled or deemed domiciled were comprised in a new settlement and thus were...