All posts by ltag

LTAG IS A SOLUTION (JUDICIAL REVIEW ACTION) TO PROTECT THE INITIAL TAX RELIEF POSITION OF CERTAIN INDIVIDUALS

LTAG is a solution (Judicial Review action) to protect the initial tax relief position of certain individuals, the effect of which, if successful, would prevent HMRC from being able to recover, with interest, repayments of tax, regardless of the ultimate outcome of any separate disputes between HMRC and the tax schemes.

LTAG is not another litigation firm. It is an Association of Members who are coming together to share costs and expertise purely for the purpose of an action for Judicial Review.

LTAG has one of the strongest teams which could be put together for such a case including tax consultancy, HMRC litigation expertise, QC Tax Counsel and action group management. Members of the advisory group to LTAG have previously secured multiple settlement successes with HMRC. As an Association, LTAG has clear rules to ensure that it is run professionally.

The LTAG claim is based on a clear interpretation of the taxing statutes. Court procedure has been strictly adhered to so as not to fail procedurally. HMRC’s defences to LTAG’s claim have been received as part of the court disclosure protocol. Recent Court decisions demonstrate a clear desire by the judiciary to implement the law. Imminent other Court decisions are likely to lend weight to the LTAG claim. The LTAG claim has been reviewed by numerous legal, accounting and tax advisors, on behalf of their clients who have subsequently joined LTAG.

The claim, which is independent of any single promoter, has taken four years to date and is now at the Court of Appeal.

It is not concerned with what an LLP or partner did or did not do but rather what has HMRC done or not done as is statutorily required of them. In many instances, HMRC did not implement statutory requirements and, should the LTAG claim win, will not be able to recover repayments of tax relief previously awarded.

If you would like more information about LTAG please complete the enquiry form at our page JOIN LTAG

Supreme Court Appeal Submitted

The LTAG Appeal to the Supreme Court was formally submitted today.

In prior hearings at the High Court and at the Court of Appeal, we had to be quite circumspect about what we said since we could not bring into question a prior judgement of the Supreme Court in lower courts.  This brake has now been released.

Our Appeal raises questions of general and serious importance as to the scope of HMRC’s powers and the way some of the most basic parts of the tax code (those that create debts in HMRC’s favour) work.  These questions are relevant to huge numbers of taxpayers and the implications go far beyond those involved in historic tax planning.

We feel our Appeal is very strong and puts forwards arguments HMRC and the Supreme Court Justices will have to think carefully over.

The next step will be to for the Supreme Court to let us know if we have been granted the right to Appeal.  Prior to that they will seek a defence of our Appeal from HMRC.

Given the current lockdown we expect a decision on our Appeal to be in the 6-12months timeframe but we really cannot be sure.

Court of Appeal Judgement

I am pleased to say that the Court of Appeal has been able to continue working and, in the original anticipated timeframe, has been able to provide us today with a judgement on our claim.

The judgement is better than we expected in that we have won partially on one of the lead appellants – Dr Singh.  We had expected to lose on both appellants claims at the Court of Appeal.

We are working closely with Counsel to determine the legal implications of the judgement and on the process of appeal to the Supreme Court. Being able to be heard at the Supreme Court has been our objective since the De Silva judgement in 2017.

Members of LTAG will shortly receive a detailed legal assessment of the judgement and why we believe an appeal at the Supreme Court stands a good chance of being granted and won.