Who was the promoter of a notifiable arrangement?

Curzon Capital was a small corporate finance adviser that acted as a sponsor and operator of unregulated collective investment schemes. It also provided investment advice and financial administration services.

It provided administration services for arrangements designed by another firm of advisers to reduce the taxable employment income of users known to HMRC as contractor schemes.

HMRC said the arrangements fell within the premium fee and standardised tax product descriptions in Tax Avoidance Schemes (Prescribed Descriptions of Arrangements) Regulations SI 2006/1543 reg 8 and reg 10. They were notifiable within the meaning of FA 2004 s 306 under the disclosure of tax avoidance schemes regime) because their purpose was to obtain a tax advantage. It claimed that Curzon was the promoter and therefore should have disclosed them to HMRC (s 314A).

The First-tier Tribunal found that the scheme satisfied the statutory criteria in s 306 to amount to notifiable arrangements. The...