Avios Group (AGL) Limited v The Commissioners for HMRC

Decision date: 12 October 2026

Neutral citation: [2026] UKFTT 1405 (TC)

Overall AI summary confidence: high

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Short overview

This short overview is intended to summarise the case, issues and outcome so far as they are supported by the judgment.

AI confidence in this short overview: high

This case concerns AGL’s February 2025 application to stay its appeal against a Schedule 36 information notice issued by HMRC pending resolution of related VAT appeals and a judicial review. The Tribunal refused the multi‑year stay, finding AGL had not shown that a stay would better serve the fair and just disposal of the case and that statutory provisions and risks from prolonged delay weighed against postponement.

Ratio decidendi

This summary is intended to identify the ratio decidendi, meaning the legal reasons for deciding and the binding part of the decision.

AI confidence in this ratio decidendi summary: high

A party seeking a stay under the Tribunal Rules bears the burden of showing the stay would better serve the overriding objective; there is a general presumption that appeals proceed without interruption. Schedule 36 permits HMRC to require information relevant to potential Schedule 24 penalties during an enquiry, and that power is not contingent on final resolution of the underlying tax liability.

Obiter dicta

This summary is intended to identify obiter dicta, meaning observations made by the way that were not necessary to deciding the case and are not binding.

AI confidence in this obiter dicta summary: medium

The judgment indicates (obiter) that HMRC internal guidance acknowledging difficulty of contemporaneous penalty determination does not create a presumption in favour of stays, and that routinely granting long stays risks forensic degradation, compression of statutory penalty assessment windows, and wider adverse consequences.

Warning

Chunk contains substantial repetition of the same material. Notes contain substantial repetition and appear to be an judgment; they may not capture the full reasoning or all factual detail of the judgment.

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