Gallaher Ltd v HMRC

In Gallaher Ltd v HMRC (Case C-707/20) (16 February 2023) the Court of Justice of the European Union (CJEU) gave a preliminary ruling on request from the UT that the UK’s group transfer rules (as they existed prior to 18 October 2018) were compliant with EU law.

The case concerned two cross-border disposals made by Gallaher Ltd (Gallaher) a UK tax resident company. The first in 2011 was a disposal of intellectual property rights to a sister company tax resident in Switzerland. The second in 2014 was a disposal of shares in a subsidiary to an indirect parent company tax resident in the Netherlands. Both cross-border transfers triggered a tax charge for Gallaher with no option to defer payment. If the transfers had instead been made to group companies within the UK corporation tax net no tax charge...