Tax payments and repayments
Taxpayers fail to recover loan charge payments to HMRC
The Upper Tribunal (UT) has found that taxpayers who used the Disguised Remuneration Repayment Scheme were not entitled to a refund, as HMRC would have had power to recover the amounts.
The taxpayers had been involved in a disguised remuneration scheme. As part of their withdrawal from the scheme, payments were made to HMRC under the Disguised Remuneration Repayment Scheme. Later, they sought to claim refunds in part, on the basis that although these were part of the settlements with HMRC, HMRC would have had no power to recover those amounts. HMRC refused the applications, and the taxpayers applied for judicial reviews.
These were considered by the UT, which found that HMRC was correct. HMRC would have been able to recover those amounts, so there was no right to repayment. It also found that the taxpayers had not made sufficient disclosures to use that as a defence.
From Tax Update September 2025, published by S&W Partners LLP
Practical Points
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