COURT OF APPEAL RULES ON SPLITTING COSTS FOR ECLIPSE TRIBUNAL

摘要

The promoters of a film partnership tax avoidance scheme, who lost their case against HMRC, now face paying the costs of preparing the paperwork involved following a ruling by the Court of Appeal, Eclipse Film Partners No. 35 LLP v Revenue and Customs Commissioners [2014] EWCA Civ 184. The latest judgment concerns Eclipse Film Partners which had challenged HMRC in both the FTT and the Upper Tribunal over its scheme involving the acquisition and exploitation of film rights to provide tax relief for investors, losing on both occasions. The Eclipse case was allocated as a so-called 'complex case', giving the tribunal the power to make an order for costs at the end of the appeal. However, Eclipse opted out of the costs-shifting rules.