White space disclosure

David Yates

The recent spate of appeals concerning discovery assessments illustrates the fact that this issue remains one of ongoing controversy between HMRC and taxpayers.

The white space or additional information space remains a headache for any professional adviser. The desired effect of any disclosure is to shut out HMRC under TMA 1970 s 29(5) (and analogous provisions for partnerships and companies) from making a discovery assessment after the expiry of the enquiry window.

The starting point remains the Court of Appeal’s judgment in Langham v Veltema [2004] STC 544. However that decision has self-evidently meant different things to HMRC and taxpayers in various cases which have occurred since. The Court of Appeal’s recent decision in HMRC v Lansdowne Partners LP [2012] STC 544 takes matters forward somewhat. In particular the following points...

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The recent spate of appeals concerning discovery assessments illustrates the fact that this issue remains one of ongoing controversy between HMRC and taxpayers.