Good Choice 2016 Limited & Anor v The Commissioners for HMRC
Decision date: 24 June 2024
Neutral citation: [2024] UKFTT 544 (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
Good Choice 2016 Ltd and its sole director Mrs Fang Bo Guo appealed HMRC assessments and penalties arising from undisclosed supplier purchases and a second merchant acquirer account. The First-tier Tribunal found HMRC's VAT registration, VAT and discovery corporation tax assessments, penalties for deliberate inaccuracy and failure to notify, and Personal Liability Notices were justified and dismissed the appeals in full. The tribunal accepted HMRC's best-of-judgment approach based on supplier and acquirer data and applied continuity to uplift turnover across periods. Mrs Guo's alternative explanations and limited medical evidence were rejected as unreliable.
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: medium
The tribunal applied the principle that best-of-judgment assessments are prima facie correct when based on material available to HMRC and that the taxpayer bears the burden of proving error; evidence of undisclosed supplier and merchant acquirer accounts can justify applying a presumption of continuity to uplift turnover and tax for other periods.
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 observed that speculative explanations unsupported by contemporaneous evidence (for example, supplier falsification, intercepted deliveries, or community gifting) carry little weight, and that sparse or redacted medical evidence that does not demonstrably affect witness reliability will not excuse inconsistent testimony or poor record-keeping.