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Rettig: HMRC’s tactical approach to public law challenges

Principled positions often adopted by HMRC can have the practical effect of avoiding or otherwise delaying judicial scrutiny of their decision-making process, write Richard Doran and John Hayton (Joseph Hage Aaronson & Bremen).

The Upper Tribunal’s decision in R (oao) Rettig Heating Group UK Ltd (in liquidation) v HMRC [2025] UKUT 143 (TCC) siding with HMRC’s narrow interpretation of ‘reasons beyond a company’s control’ for Statement of Practice SP 5/01 purposes imposes a requirement of extraordinary foresight on taxpayers who are expected to anticipate exactly how any challenge to the lawfulness of legislative provisions will ultimately be resolved by the courts many years into the future in order to have made the correct consequential claims to address any...

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