Jeremy Coller v The Commissioners for HMRC
[2023] UKFTT 212 (TC)
Ameet Shah (as executor of the estate of Anantrai Maneklal Shah deceased) v The Commissioners for HMRC
14 June 2023
[2023] UKFTT 539 (TC)
First-tier Tribunal
A man lived in the UK for a very long time. Even though he said he wanted to move back to India, he didn't really take any steps to do so. The judge decided he was a UK resident for tax purposes.
Key Facts
- •Anantrai Maneklal Shah (AMS) died on 7 June 2016.
- •AMS was born in Karachi in 1929.
- •AMS lived in England and Wales from 1973 until his death.
- •AMS's domicile of origin was disputed (Pakistan or India).
- •AMS had various residences and work throughout his life, including Tanzania, India, and the UK.
- •AMS made two wills, one under UK law and one under Indian law, both stating domicile in India.
- •There was limited documentary evidence of AMS's intentions regarding domicile.
- •AMS's family members provided witness testimony about his intentions.
Legal Principles
Domicile of origin adheres unless displaced by satisfactory evidence of acquisition and continuance of a domicile of choice.
Re Fuld [1968] P 675
A domicile of choice is acquired only if it is affirmatively shown that the propositus is resident in a territory with the intention of residing there indefinitely.
Re Fuld [1968] P 675
A domicile of choice is acquired by the combination of residence in a territory and an intention to remain there permanently.
Barlow Clowes International Limited (in liquidation) and others v Henwood [2008] EWCA Civ 577
Length of residence alone is not determinative of an intention to reside indefinitely, but it is a starting point.
Holliday v Musa [2010] EWCA Civ 335
The burden of proving the abandonment of a domicile of origin and the acquisition of a domicile of choice is on the person asserting the change.
Re Fuld [1968] P 675
Little weight is attached to direct or indirect evidence of statements or declarations of intention by the deceased. Subjective intentions must be inferred from evidence of the deceased's life.
Agulian and another v Cyganik [2006] EWCA Civ 129
Outcomes
Appeal dismissed.
The Tribunal concluded that AMS had acquired a domicile of choice in England and Wales at some point after 1973 and had not abandoned it before his death. His intentions to move to India were considered vague and not supported by the evidence of his life.