UK Tax Office Can Recover Property Tax From Avoiders, Court Says

The UK tax authority can recover stamp land duty tax from six taxpayers involved in property tax avoidance schemes after they failed to file necessary returns, a court ruled Tuesday.

The Upper Tribunal in a judgment released Wednesday upheld His Majesty’s Revenue and Customs’ issuance of “discovery assessments” to the taxpayers for unassessed tax and deemed that the office had issued them within applicable time limits.

The court also ruled the notices of inquiry issued by HMRC to the taxpayers were valid and not ambiguous, dismissing the taxpayers’ appeals.

The six taxpayers entered into tax avoidance arrangements for their ...