Post-Prudential: Decision released by the FTT
On 8 December 2021, judgment in the Post Prudential Group Litigation was handed down by the First-tier Tribunal (Tax Chamber) (“FTT”). These were appeals and applications for closure by approximately 200 taxpayers, who had made a variety of claims seeking repayment of unlawful DV tax imposed on dividends received from foreign portfolio holdings. The FTT considered the validity of these various statutory claims following decisions in test cases in the CFC & Dividend GLO, namely Claimants in Class 8 of the CFC and Dividend Group Litigation v Revenue and Customs Commissioners [2019] EWHC 338 (Ch), [2019] 1 WLR 5097 (“Class 8”) and Prudential Assurance Co Ltd v HMRC [2018] UKSC 39; [2019] AC 929 (“Prudential SC”).
The taxpayers succeeded in all the major issues raised. Some points were decided in HMRC’s favour but, as these were only argued in the alternative to the taxpayers’ main case, the ultimate result of the decision was that all of their claims succeeded. It is of course now open for HMRC to apply for permission to appeal the decision.
In the meantime, following the Tribunal’s decision, it is now possible to make DTR claims under the extended time limit provided under s806(2), with the starting date in most circumstances being the Prudential SC decision in July 2018. Taxpayers should note that where management expenses or other forms of losses or group relief were applied against DV income the DTR is not lost but carries forward automatically and applies against the next payment of CT on any income. Steps should be taken to ensure that the carried forward DTR is applied where it can be. In addition, the FTT has held that EUFT can be claimed at the foreign nominal rate where s806(2) is engaged.
The full judgment in The Applicants in the Post Prudential Closure Notice Applications Group Litigation and Another vs The Commissioners for HM Revenue and Customs [2021] UKFTT 0459 (TC) (“Post-Prudential”) can be found here.
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