The tribunal has refused an appeal against a closure notice and discovery assessment issued by HMRC for £294,000 related to stamp duty land tax (SDLT). 

Redmount Trust Company Limited appealed against the First Tier Tribunal’s (FTT) decision to allow HMRC to open an enquiry into its SDLT return, even when there was no obligation to submit one, and the tax demand for £294,000. 

The company argued that the FTT was ‘wrong in law’ in reaching these conclusions. The central issue concerned whether an enquiry had been validly opened into a return that was not required to be made.

On 1 May 2012, Redmount entered into a tax planning arrangement in which it sought to claim ‘sub-sale’ SDLT relief on the purchase of a property worth £4.2m, under section 45(3) of Finance Act 2003.

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