Convergence Management Consultants Ltd v The Commissioners for HMRC
Decision date: 9 January 2025
Neutral citation: [2025] UKFTT 22 (TC)
Overall AI summary confidence: high
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 Convergence Management Consultants Ltd's claim for £46,619.48 under the Coronavirus Job Retention Scheme (CJRS) for its sole director/employee, Mr Mahmood. The Tribunal held CMC did not satisfy the Directions' gateway requirement that it had made and reported a payment of earnings in tax year 2019–20 on an RTI return by the relevant reference day, and therefore was not entitled to CJRS payments. The Tribunal also rejected reliance on a prior Ocean Network salary as a basis for a “reasonably expected” reference salary and upheld HMRC’s assessments.
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
The Tribunal's ratio is that a CJRS Direction can contain gateway eligibility conditions (here paragraph 5 of the First Direction) which must be satisfied before provisions about reimbursable amounts operate, and that a reimbursement provision referring to amounts “reasonably expected to be paid” does not override or bypass explicit eligibility requirements elsewhere in the Direction.
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 contains no substantial obiter dicta beyond the Tribunal’s observation that later amendments in the Sixth and Seventh Directions did not assist CMC on the facts and comments on the limited relevance of historical RTI-reported payments to determining reference day/salary in these circumstances.