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HMRC v Dolphin Drilling: UKSC clarifies ‘incidental to another use’ under CTA 2010 s 356LA(3); accommodation on TSV is a separate use and connected‑party hire cap applies

Published on: 25 June 2025

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Commissioners for His Majesty’s Revenue and Customs v Dolphin Drilling Ltd [2025] UKSC 24

Background

Total E&P UK Ltd (‘Total’) conducts drilling at the Dunbar oil platform in the North Sea. As the Dunbar does not have the infrastructure for active drilling, it needs the assistance of a tender support vessel (‘TSV’) to provide tender assisted drilling (‘TAD’) services. TSVs are different from accommodation vessels, which function solely as offshore hotels, commonly referred to as ‘flotels’.

Seeking to restart drilling at the Dunbar in 2012, Total invited Dolphin Drilling Ltd (‘Dolphin’) to bid for the supply of a TSV. Dolphin proposed using a semi-submersible drilling rig converted into a TSV, the Borgsten Dolphin (‘the Borgsten’), which it leased from an associated entity, Borgsten Dolphin Pte Ltd (‘BDPL’). On 11 November 2011, Total awarded Dolphin the contract to deliver TAD services at the Dunbar.

Alongside its TAD role, the Borgsten offered accommodation for 102 individuals. Under the TAD services contract, the Borgsten was to provide living quarters for its own crew as well as 40 members of Total’s personnel...

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