Upper Tribunal Allows Appeal Against Director’s Liability Notice for VAT Penalties in Trees v HMRC

• The case concerns an appeal by Ashley Charles Trees against a director’s liability notice (DLN) issued by HMRC for VAT penalties under sections 60 and 61 of the Value Added Tax Act 1994.
• The DLN sought to recover nearly £2 million from Mr Trees, alleging his dishonesty as a director of CCA Distribution Ltd in connection with fraudulent VAT evasion.
• The First-tier Tribunal had dismissed Mr Trees’ appeal and refused his application to stay proceedings, finding that he knew or should have known about the fraudulent transactions.
• HMRC did not expressly plead dishonesty in the Kittel appeal, raising questions about abuse of process.
• The Upper Tribunal allowed Mr Trees’ appeal against the DLN.

Source: bailii.org

Note that this post was (partially) written with the help of AI. It is always useful to review the original source material, and where needed to obtain (local) advice from a specialist.

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