HMRC v Sippchoice Ltd

In HMRC v Sippchoice Ltd [2020] UKUT 0149 (TCC) (12 May) the Upper Tribunal (UT) held that transfers of shares to a pension scheme were not contributions paid to the scheme and therefore did not qualify for relief from income tax at source.

Four individuals became members of a self-invested personal pension scheme (SIPP) administered by Sippchoice. At the same time each completed a form proposing to make a net contribution of a specified amount to the SIPP. Although the contribution form did not indicate how the contribution was to be made it was headed ‘In-specie contributions’. Sippchoice then wrote to each individual indicating that there was now a legally binding and irrevocable obligation to make the contribution and in satisfaction of that obligation each individual transferred shares with a value equivalent to the amount specified in the contribution form. It was common ground that...