The inheritance tax at issue was £1,671,235 and the dispute related to the question of whether a wedding barn was an investment or a business, and eligibility for business property relief.

Following a claim for business property relief (BPR) in the relevant inheritance tax returns, HMRC issued notices of determination for Tufton Warren Farm LLP on 28 August 2020 to the appellants, who were representing the estate of Helen Butler, who had died in May 2015. The determinations stated that no part of the LLP’s assets was relevant business property for the purposes of s104 IHTA.

The First Tier Tribunal heard that at her death Butler was a member of Tufton Warren Farm LLP. The only other members were the trustees of her late husband’s will trust, called the TR Butler will trust, in which she had a life interest, and which was treated as part of her estate under s49(1) Inheritance Tax Act 1984 (IHTA).