UT-2023-000051 - [2024] UKUT 00114 (TCC)

The FTT referred at [57] to the Respondents’ well-known and reputable advisers who had informed HMRC that they were satisfied the Respondents’ returns for the years in question were correct. However, the vast majority of professional advisers with whom HMRC deal were “reputable”. That does not mean that they may not be mistaken. Thus, when the advisers asserted that they had not received any distributions or “benefits” from any trusts or settlements during the years under enquiry, it was unclear whether they had appreciated all the situations in which a benefit is treated as arising under the ToAA legislation which includes benefits received indirectly. This response did not provide an answer to the question of whether there have been further relevant transactions involving the offshore structures that resulted in other income becoming payable to a person abroad which gave rise to a tax liability.