In Nicholas Pike v HMRC (A3/2013/1996 – 20 June 2014) the Court of Appeal dismissed the taxpayer’s appeal against the denial of a claim for loss on a relevant discounted security (RDS).
Mr Pike had set up a company which had issued to him £6 million nominal redeemable loan stock. He had then transferred the loan stock to a trust and claimed a £3 463 563 loss on the disposal of the loan stock on the basis that it was a RDS for the purpose of FA 1996 sch 13.
Whether the loan stock was a RDS depended on whether the amount payable on maturity or redemption would involve a ‘deep gain’. This in turn depended on whether the issue price was relevantly less than the amount so payable. The issue was therefore whether what Mr Pike described as a ‘premium’ payable on redemption was actually interest on...