Swiss Centre Ltd v HMRC

In Swiss Centre Ltd v HMRC [2023] UKFTT 449 (TC) (22 May 2023) the FTT held that a payment to an Irish government agency by the taxpayer was not deductible under the loan relationship rules in calculating profits for corporation tax purposes because it was made in the interests of the wider group of companies of which the taxpayer was a member.

This appeal concerns a dispute between a Northern Ireland-based taxpayer and HMRC as to whether £33.5m paid to an Irish government agency was deductible either under the loan relationship rules or as an allowable expense for capital gains tax purposes. The taxpayer’s case was that the payment should be seen in two component parts:

• an amount paid to the government agency for the release of that agency’s security over the property that the taxpayer was developing (the Swiss Centre); and
• a payment made in relation to a guarantee which...