TC09599 - [2025] UKFTT 00918 (TC)

Between 7 July 2014 and 15 November 2014 the Appellant disposed of 410 loads of waste at Bage Farm, Lulham, Herefordshire.

This disposal was the subject of a criminal prosecution. The Appellant pleaded guilty and received a fine which included an amount of £15,822, which was the amount of Landfill Tax that the court calculated that the Appellant had avoided. The Appellant appealed against the sentence but it was confirmed by the Crown Court on 7 December 2018.

HMRC started enquiring into the matter in late 2018. They issued an assessment on 23 October 2020 and the appeal is against this assessment and associated interest. HMRC will credit the Appellant for the amount of the fine confirmed by the Crown Court that was calculated to be related to Landfill Tax.

The detailed grounds of appeal are covered below, but a large part of this case involves the fact that at some point before February 2018 the landowner had discovered Australian swamp stonecrop (Crassula helmsii ‘Crassula’) on the site where the waste had been dumped and had been informed that it would be illegal to disturb the Crassula. This made removal of the waste from the site complicated at best and potentially impossible.