UK Ruling Raises Questions for Carried Interest Tax Plan

The UK’s plan to tax the carried interest income of nonresident fund managers may be vulnerable to challenge under a top court ruling involving tax treaties and domestic law, tax professionals say.

They cite the UK Supreme Court’s 2020 ruling in Fowler v. HMRC, a case involving a South African diver, as possibly weakening His Majesty’s Revenue and Customs’ claim to taxing rights over the fund managers.

If a challenge were to succeed, overseas fund managers might be able to avoid UK tax on activities carried out in the country.

The nonresident tax plan is part of HMRC’s proposal ...