To the relief of tax practitioners generally (and perhaps also the Inland Revenue), the Court of Appeal has overturned the High Court judgement in Palmer v Moloney and another, a professional negligence case about retirement relief.
The plaintiff held the majority of the shares in a company which carried on business side by side with the plaintiff’s business as a sole trader. The plaintiff spent 85%-90% of his working time working for the company, the remainder of the time being devoted to his unincorporated business. The plaintiff argued that he was a ‘full-time working officer or employee’ of the company and as such, had it not been for the negligent advice of his accountants, he would have been eligible for retirement relief from capital gains tax.
