The First Tier Tribunal (FTT) dismissed the appeal from Jason Callen against a discovery assessment from HMRC worth £308,798 with the court ruling that HMRC was entitled to go back six years due to the insufficiency of tax in the taxpayer’s return, which was brought about as a result of his accountant acting carelessly when implementing a tax avoidance scheme.

Jason Callen had participated in a tax avoidance scheme called the Montpelier scheme in the 2008-09 tax year. The scheme was aimed at those who are self-employed and was structured on the basis that a trader would obtain dividend rights and claim the cost of such rights as a deductible expense of the trade, while the income received by the trader was not taxable because of the Income and Corporation Taxes Act 1988.