Court ruled that taxpayer was estopped in £701k tax case

The Supreme Court overturned the Court of Appeal’s decision that a taxpayer was not estopped from denying that a valid inquiry had been opened into his tax return which declared he owed HMRC £701,990.96, even though the inquiry was sent to the wrong address

The Supreme Court ruled in favour of HMRC in a case that addressed whether Mr Tinkler was prevented from challenging the validity of an inquiry into his tax return by HMRC.

The case was prolonged for nearly a decade as both parties proceeded on the mistaken assumption that the inquiry was valid and initiated by a letter sent to the taxpayer.

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