X Ltd and others v HMRC

In X Ltd and others v HMRC [2020] UKUT 29 (TCC) (30 January) the Upper Tribunal (UT) upheld two decisions of the FTT: that an application for a closure notice should not be determined until after HMRC’s application for approval of third-party information notices under FA 2008 Sch 36; and that HMRC’s application should be heard ex parte. 

In 2014 HMRC opened enquiries into the returns of three companies and in 2017 the companies applied to the FTT for a closure notice. A date was fixed for the hearing of the applications. HMRC had concluded that they needed certain information on the financial position of 17 individuals including directors and shareholders of the companies and set in motion the procedure for issuing third party notices applying to the FTT for approval. HMRC therefore applied for the closure notice applications to be postponed and stayed until after the third-party notice application had been determined. The companies and individuals opposed the postponement...