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Upper Tribunal upholds validity of HMRC SDLT enquiries and confirms s75A notional transaction needs its own return; 20-year discovery assessments in time (Scatola v HMRC)

Published on: 05 June 2025

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Scatola and others v HMRC [2025] UKUT 156 (TCC)

The appeals serve as lead cases brought by three unrelated pairs of taxpayers, each of whom adopted a marketed SDLT avoidance scheme designed to eliminate SDLT on buying a dwelling, akin to the arrangements examined and rejected in Project Blue [2018] UKSC 30. The planning comprised a sub-sale to V Ltd, a Guernsey special purpose vehicle, followed by the grant back to the taxpayers of a 999-year lease. Three SDLT returns were submitted:

  • return A, covering the taxpayers’ acquisition of the freehold, showed no SDLT as sub-sale relief was claimed
  • return B, filed by V Ltd for its freehold purchase, reported no SDLT via Finance Act 2003 section 71A relief (alternative property finance)
  • return C, concerning the taxpayers’ lease acquisition, again showed no SDLT, relying on FA 2003, s 71A

HMRC then commenced an enquiry into the arrangements. In its letter to the taxpayers, HMRC stated expressly that the enquiry related to ‘this return’, identifying the particular filing under review and the focus of HMRC’s scrutiny. A separate letter was issued to the taxpayers’ agent, the agent of those taxpayers, in that context at that time as part of that correspondence...

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