Interfish v HMRC

In Interfish v HMRC (A3/2013/2566 – 27 June 2014) the Court of Appeal found that payments made by a company to a rugby club were not deductible.

Interfish (the holding company of a group involved in the fishing industry) had paid over £1.2m over three accounting periods to Plymouth Albion one of the largest rugby clubs in the South West which was in severe financial difficulties. The payments benefited Interfish as they promoted its products and made it easier for the company to obtain bank finance.

Both the FTT and the UT had held that the payments were not deductible as they were not ‘wholly and exclusively laid out or expended for the purposes of the trade’ (ICTA 1988 s 74).

The court rejected Mr Peacock QC’s ‘beguiling submission’ that the purpose of improving the club’s financial position was an ‘intermediate purpose’ on the way to the...