Ingenious v HMRC

Ingenious Film Partners 2 LLP and others v HMRC [2016] UKFTT 521 (TC)

Jonathan Davey QC has won a major victory for HMRC in a high profile and high value (£1.4 billion) tax case, following the First-tier Tribunal (Judge Charles Hellier, Julian Stafford) handing down a further decision in the matter. In the appeal of the long running Ingenious litigation, the First-tier Tribunal dismissed in its entirety the appeal of one of the three lead partnerships in question, and found against the remaining two partnerships on the majority of the points in issue. The litigation concerns whether limited liability partnerships involved in the film and games industries were trading with a view to a profit, whether millions of pounds of expenditure was incurred wholly and exclusively for the purposes of the partnerships’ trade, and whether the partnerships’ accounts were drawn up in accordance with generally accepted accounting principles. The amount of tax at stake (including in respect of follower partnerships) is approximately £1.4 billion.

Jonathan is acting for HMRC alongside Malcolm Gammie QC (One Essex Court), Catherine Addy (Maitland Chambers), Michael Jones (Gray’s Inn Tax Chambers), Imran Afzal (Field Court Tax Chambers), Ruth Hughes (5 Stone Buildings), Sam Chandler (5 Stone Buildings), Nicholas Macklam (Radcliffe Chambers) and Oscar Schonfeld (One Essex Court).

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