The appellant, 39 Fitzjohns Avenue Limited, bought the property in 2018 for £19,750,000 with plans to convert the building into 35 flats.

The case at the First Tier Tribunal (FTT) centred around a dispute with HMRC over whether mixed use stamp duty land tax relief (SDLT) of £1,899,250 was available.

The reclaimed SDLT was refused by HMRC in a closure notice in December 2021, then upheld by review on 15 July 2022. The appellant appealed this decision on 11 August 2022.

The company has two directors, Phillip Geoffrey Lewis, a British chartered accountant, and Barry Abraham Stiefel, a German accountant. Lewis is also a company director for the luxury home appliance brand, Smeg.