Joanne Robson v The Commissioners for HMRC

Decision date: 29 September 2023

Neutral citation: [2023] UKFTT 868 (TC)

Overall AI summary confidence: medium

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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: medium

This appeal challenged HMRC discovery assessments for the High Income Child Benefit Charge (HICBC) for 2017/18 and 2019/20. The Tribunal found HMRC’s letter of 9 September 2021 constituted a notified temporary pause of the appeal pending the outcome of Wilkes, so the FA 2022 retrospective protection did not apply; the assessments were therefore not “relevant protected assessments” and, applying Wilkes, the discovery assessments were invalid. The appeal was allowed.

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 treated a communicated pause by HMRC, reasonably linked to the issues in another case (Wilkes) and notified to the taxpayer, as satisfying s97(6)–(8) FA 2022 so that the retrospective protection in s29 TMA/FA 2022 does not apply; accordingly discovery assessments issued before FA 2022 in those circumstances are not “relevant protected assessments” and can be invalidated under the reasoning in Wilkes.

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 Tribunal observed that widely publicised HICBC awareness campaigns in 2012–13 were of limited assistance where the taxpayer was not then a higher-rate taxpayer, and criticised HMRC’s failure to provide up-to-date authorities in its generic bundle and to the unrepresented appellant as procedurally unacceptable (noting such conduct might justify costs in other circumstances).

Warning

The chunk contains substantial repetition and duplicated passages; care was taken to avoid repeating facts verbatim.

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