Private Client Review For September 2023

In this article, the September monthly update for Tax Journal, Edward Reed and Kathryn Hart look at a number of private client developments.

This month, we report two recent cases, Shah and Strachan, which serve as a reminder that domicile claims may lead to detailed scrutiny of a taxpayer's personal affairs in a public forum. Recent taxpayer statistics highlight that HMRC are netting record amounts of inheritance and capital gains tax, whilst the "tax gap" and the number of "non-dom" taxpayers remain relatively steady. The much-reported case ofA Taxpayerindicates that sufficient evidence is key in a taxpayer successfully establishing "exceptional circumstances" under the statutory residence test and on this topic, HMRC are closely scrutinising related claims from the Covid era. Finally, the cases of Vision HR Solutions Ltd and Stenhouse serve as reminders that permission for judicial review is not easily granted by the tribunal.