The case centred around the purchase of a £5.2m property in central London and a deal on the same day with a third party, which the appellant argued removed the tax liability. But the Court ruled that the sub-sale relief tax avoidance scheme failed to meet qualifying conditions

On 16 September 2011 the appellant, Oisin Fanning, completed the purchase of a flat in Grosvenor Square, London, from a company called Glendale Enterprises Four Limited.

Fanning purchased the property for £5.2m, of which £200,000 was allocated to chattels. Following the transaction, it would ordinarily have been liable for SDLT at a rate of 5%, resulting in a tax charge of £250,000.

However, Fanning filed an SDLT return on the basis that he had no liability as he claimed that tax was not due as a result of another transaction that he had entered on the same date.