taxing matters

The case of Gaines-Cooper v HMRC SpC 568 has recently been reported by the special commissioners and has caused a good deal of comment in the national and professional press. The issue is all about how you count the days to determine whether somebody is resident in the UK or not and whether you can rely on the HM Revenue & Customs (HMRC) booklet IR20 on residence. The question was whether Robert Gaines-Cooper was resident in the UK. He prepared a detailed schedule of days spent in the UK, carefully and precisely in accordance with the IR20 HMRC guidance, ignoring days of arrival and departure. However, HMRC said that the days of arrival and departure should not be ignored after all. What about its hallowed practice which has been in IR20 for the last 30 years? Never mind about that; HMRC decided that it should count the days in another way—and concluded that Gaines-Cooper was resident.

A worrying approach and a new test

This approach is intensely worrying and everybody is