Haworth & ors (appellants) v HM Revenue & Customs (respondent)
Tuesday 10 – Wednesday 11 June 2025
This is an appeal against a decision of the Upper Tribunal (Tax Chamber). The appellants are the settlors of separate family trusts which engaged in a tax planning arrangement known as the “round the world” scheme. They hoped that the trustees of the family trusts would avoid capital gains tax on disposals of shares on the flotation of a company called TeleWork Group Plc. It was common ground that the scheme was effective to achieve the capital gains tax savings if, amongst other things, the family trusts became resident in Mauritius by the time of disposal. The scheme would only be effective if the place of effective management (the “POEM”) of the trusts was in Mauritius. The First Tier Tribunal held that the POEM of the trusts at the material time was the UK and dismissed the appeal. This decision was appealed to the Upper Tribunal who were satisfied that the First Tier Tribunal made no error of law in the test it applied.
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Day 1
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