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Commissioners for His Majesty's Revenue and Customs (Respondent) v Fisher and another (Appellants)
Case summary
Case ID
UKSC/2021/0212
Parties
Appellant(s)
Peter Fisher
Stephen Fisher
Respondent(s)
Commissioners for His Majesty's Revenue and Customs
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.
Date of issue
3 November 2021
Judgment appealed
Linked cases
Cross appeal
Judgment details
Judgment date
21 November 2023
Neutral citation
[2023] UKSC 44
Judgment links
Judgment summary
21 November 2023
Appeal
Justices
Hearing dates
Full hearing
Start date
19 July 2023
End date
20 July 2023
Watch hearings
19 July 2023 - Morning session
19 July 2023 - Afternoon session
20 July 2023 - Morning session
20 July 2023 - Afternoon session
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Last updated 16 April 2024