The Commissioners for HMRC v The Taxpayer
[2024] UKUT 12 (TCC)
Hugh Edward Mark Osmond v The Commissioners for HMRC
20 May 2024
[2024] UKFTT 414 (TC)
First-tier Tribunal
A law firm wanted to see secret legal arguments from a tax case to help their clients and share information with other tax experts. The judge agreed because the information would soon be public anyway and it is important for the public to understand how tax cases are decided.
Key Facts
- •Application for third-party disclosure of skeleton arguments in an appeal concerning Transactions in Securities legislation.
- •Applicant, Stewarts Law LLP, represents three clients considering similar challenges and seeks documents to aid their strategy and inform the wider tax community.
- •The appeal (TC/2022/00199 & TC/2022/00687) was heard on March 11-14, 2024, and the decision was pending at the time of the application.
- •Both appellants did not oppose the application.
Legal Principles
Open justice is a constitutional principle applicable to all courts and tribunals, including the FTT, which has inherent jurisdiction to determine what this principle requires regarding document access.
Inherent jurisdiction of the FTT and general principles derived from Cider of Sweden Ltd [2022] UKFTT 00076 and JTI Acquisition Company (2011) Ltd [2021] UKFTT 0446
A fact-specific balancing exercise should be conducted when considering document access requests, weighing the open justice principle’s purpose, the information’s potential value, risks of harm, practicalities, and proportionality.
Cider of Sweden Ltd [2022] UKFTT 00076
An entirely private or commercial interest in a document can qualify as a legitimate interest (e.g., interest in related litigation).
Cider of Sweden Ltd [2022] UKFTT 00076
Outcomes
The application for third-party disclosure of the skeleton arguments was granted.
The applicant demonstrated a legitimate interest in the documents for their clients' cases. The information is likely soon to be public and disclosure would further the open justice principle and is practical and proportionate. The tribunal also considered the benefit to the wider tax community.