Commissioners for His Majesty's Revenue and Customs (Respondent) v Fisher and another (Appellants)
Case ID: 2021/0212
Case summary
Issue
What is the correct construction of the anti-avoidance provisions in section 739 and following of the Income and Corporation Taxes Act 1988 (and its successor in Chapter 2 of Part 13 of the Income Tax Act 2007)? In particular:
i) Does the transfer of assets have to be a transfer by the individual who has the power to enjoy the income that becomes payable to the overseas person?
ii) If the individual has to be the transferor of the assets in order for section 739 to apply, in what circumstances (if any) can an individual be treated as a transferor of the assets where the transfer is in fact made by a company in which the individual is a shareholder?
Facts
The Fisher family established the Stan James betting business. This appeal concerns the transfer of part of the Stan James betting business from a UK resident company, Stan James (Abingdon) Limited to a Gibraltar resident company, Stan James Gibraltar Limited ("SJG") in 2000, and the assessments to tax made on Stephen, Peter and Anne Fisher on the basis that they had "power to enjoy" income of SJG. Assessments to tax were issued by HMRC to each of Stephen and Anne Fisher in respect of the years of assessment 2000/2001 to 2007/2008 and Peter Fisher in respect of the years 2000/2001, 2001/2002, 2003/2004 and 2004/2005. Pursuant to section 739 of the Income and Corporation Taxes Act 1996, HMRC treated the income of SJG as the deemed income of the Fishers in proportion to their respective shareholdings in the company.
The Court of Appeal upheld the tax charges on Stephen and Peter but not Anne. Stephen and Peter now appeal to the Supreme Court. HMRC are cross-appealing in relation to Anne's assessment to tax.
Judgment appealed
Parties
Appellant(s)
(1) Peter Fisher
(2) Stephen Fisher
Respondent(s)
Commissioners for His Majesty's Revenue and Customs
Appeal
Justices
Lord Reed, Lord Hodge, Lord Sales, Lord Stephens, Lady Rose
Hearing start date
19 July 2023
Hearing finish date
20 July 2023
| Watch hearing | ||
|---|---|---|
| 19 July 2023 | Morning session | Afternoon session |
| 20 July 2023 | Morning session | Afternoon session |
Judgment details
Judgment date
21 November 2023
Neutral citation
[2023] UKSC 44
- Judgment (PDF)
- Press Summary (PDF)
- Judgment on The National Archives (HTML version)
- Press Summary on The National Archives (HTML version)
- Judgment on BAILII (HTML version)
| Watch Judgment summary | |
|---|---|
| 21 November 2023 | Judgment summary |