Mary Simpkins v The Commissioners for HMRC
[2024] UKFTT 924 (TC)
Gareth Evans v The Commissioners for HMRC
2 October 2023
[2023] UKFTT 869 (TC)
First-tier Tribunal
HMRC suspected Mr. Evans used a tax avoidance scheme. They asked him for information to check his taxes. Mr. Evans disagreed, but the court said HMRC was allowed to ask for the information, with a couple of small exceptions.
Key Facts
- •Gareth Evans (Appellant) appealed against an information notice (the Notice) issued under Schedule 36, Finance Act 2008 by HMRC (Respondents).
- •The Notice requested information regarding Evans' employment with Total Recruitment Services Ltd (TRS), suspected of facilitating disguised remuneration tax avoidance.
- •Evans argued that HMRC was not genuinely checking his tax position, and the information requested was not reasonably required.
- •HMRC argued that the information was needed to verify Evans' tax position and that the PAYE information alone was insufficient.
- •The Tribunal considered whether the information was reasonably required for checking Evans' tax position, considering the purpose and the proportionality of the request.
Legal Principles
Schedule 36, Finance Act 2008 empowers HMRC to issue information notices requiring information reasonably required for checking a person's tax position.
Schedule 36, Finance Act 2008
Checking a person's tax position includes their present and future tax position and the question of penalties.
Paragraph 64, Schedule 36, Finance Act 2008
The Tribunal must assess whether information is objectively reasonably required based on the circumstances at the time of the hearing.
Hargreaves v HMRC [2021] UKFTT 80 (TC)
Article 6 ECHR is not engaged at the preliminary, investigative stage of a tax enquiry, only when a person has been charged.
Asset House Piccadilly Limited v HMRC [2023] UKFTT 00385 (TC)
Outcomes
The appeal was dismissed.
The Tribunal found that HMRC was genuinely checking Evans' tax position and that most of the requested information was reasonably required to ascertain his tax liability. The Tribunal accepted that HMRC was not obligated to first obtain information from TRS.
The information notice was confirmed, subject to two variations.
The Tribunal removed the request for the names and addresses of those who informed Evans about the employment arrangements, and limited item 8 to only information relating to the financial or economic aspects of the arrangement.