The appellants had used a tax avoidance scheme to avoid paying stamp duty land tax (SDLT) via a ‘marketed scheme which was designed to eliminate their potential liabilities to SDLT’ when purchasing a new residential property.

The scheme was similar to the one used in the Project Blue case which concluded in 2018. This case was used as evidence in the outcome of the decision.

Although HMRC proved to the appellants’ that they could not avoid SDLT, the seven property owners still appealed the closure notices on two grounds.

The first was that HMRC did not open valid enquiries into their land transaction returns, rendering the closure notices invalid.