It has been announced that Rangers will seek leave to appeal to the Supreme Court against the recent Court of Session ruling on their Employee Benefit Trust (EBT) contributions case (see No picnic for the Teddy Bears). This is not unexpected having regard to the novel and somewhat controversial principles set forth in the Court of Session decision. So it will be a little while before the final whistle blows in this case.
Meanwhile, the making of the appeal has two important consequences for other cases. First, the appeal will make it impossible for HMRC to issue “follower notices” requiring the decision to be applied to certain other cases until such time as the case has been heard in the Supreme Court and the final decision handed down: second, HMRC will not be able to issue any “Accelerated Payment Notices” (requiring tax to be paid in advance of the determination of any relevant appeal) pursuant to the Rangers decision except in those cases in which the EBT contributions have been made as part of a marketed scheme which falls within the Disclosure of Tax Avoidance Scheme rules.
For more on the often misunderstood rules on Follower Notices and Accelerated Payment Notices, see our page here. And for assistance in specific EBT cases, try your usual BKL contact or use our enquiry form.