Judicial review and tax

FORTHCOMING CHANGE: On 1 October 2024, the e-filing pilot commenced for the Administrative Court (a specialist court within the High Court), which enables court users to file claims and relevant material electronically, link to their cases on the case management system, review and track their cases and pay court fees. The Document Upload Centre (DUC) is still available to be used also and, for documents which exceed 50 MB, the DUC must be used. A date for mandatory e-filing for the Administrative Court has not yet been determined.

What is judicial review?

Judicial review (JR):

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is the procedure whereby the court considers whether the decision of a public body was lawful, and
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has been described as a review of the manner in which a decision was made

JR proceedings can be taken against:

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any public body, including HMRC, and
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legislation

For more information on JR and tax, see Practice Notes: Judicial review in tax cases at the High Court and Judicial review in tax cases at the Upper Tribunal.

For more information on JR generally, see Practice Note: Judicial review—what

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Latest Tax News

Court of Appeal confirms that loans made under remuneration trust arrangements were taxable as disguised remuneration and related payments were not deductible (Marlborough DP Limited v HMRC)

Tax analysis: In Marlborough DP Ltd, the Court of Appeal dismissed the taxpayer’s appeal and upheld the decision of the Upper Tribunal (UT), confirming that loans made to a director under a remuneration trust (RT) scheme were taxable under the disguised remuneration legislation in Part 7A of the Income Tax Earnings and Pensions Act 2003 (ITEPA 2003) as being ‘in connection with’ employment. The court also agreed that the related payments were not deductible for corporation tax purposes, as they were not incurred wholly and exclusively for the purposes of the company’s trade.

UT holds that VAT exemption did not apply for single composite supply of financial services (JPMorgan Chase Bank NA v HMRC)

Tax analysis: In JPMorgan Chase Bank NA the Upper Tribunal (UT) dismissed the company’s appeal and upheld the First-Tier Tribunal (FTT) decision that the supply of intra-group services was a single composite taxable supply and the VAT exemption for financial services did not apply.

Supreme Court rules that the hire cap under the oil contractor regime applied to restrict deductions (HMRC v Dolphin Drilling Ltd)

Tax analysis: In Dolphin Drilling, the Supreme Court dismissed the company’s appeal, deciding that the ‘hire cap’ under the oil contractor regime applied to restrict the corporation tax deduction available to it for the cost of chartering a tender support vessel (TSV).

Tax weekly highlights—26 June 2025

This week's edition of Tax weekly highlights includes: (1) the Supreme Court’s decision in HMRC v Dolphin Drilling, (2) confirmation that the PISCES stamp tax exemption Regulations are to come into force on 3 July 2025 and (3) News Analyses on previously reported decisions Osmond and Allen v HMRC (on main purpose under ITA 2007, s 687), Smart v HMRC (on ‘receiving or entitled’ to income), Conservatory Insulations Northwest Ltd v HMRC (on VAT assessment time limits) and BGC Services Holdings LLP v HMRC (on the refusal of HMRC’s case management decisions permission to appeal application).