Taxing matters

The latest decision in the saga of Grace v HMRC was published on 1 February and regrettably the clarification for which we yearn on the subject of residence is as far away as ever.

Grace was a South African pilot who came to the UK in 1986 and was employed by British Caledonian. He had a house near Gatwick. In 1997 his marriage was dissolved and he went back to South Africa. He retained his UK house which he used in order to rest, before or after carrying out his duties as a long haul pilot. In the following three years he visited the UK for 41, 71 and 70 days. Grace thought he was not resident.  However, HMRC considered that he had remained a UK resident. Grace appealed to the Special Commissioners, representing himself, and demonstrated to the tribunal that he had made a distinct break from the UK and had become non resident in 1997. A rare