header-logo header-logo

The SKAT revenue rule decision

14 May 2021 / Nick Leigh, Rosenblatt
Issue: 7932 / Categories: Opinion , Tax , Costs , Procedure & practice
printer mail-detail
48964
Nick Leigh reports on the occasional eyebrow-raising qualities of tax law

The SKAT case is one of the biggest civil litigation claims before the English court. Mark that—was.

In a huge decision, the entire multi-billion pound matter has been disposed of at the first opportunity by the court.

The claims—SKAT is short for Skatteforvaltningen, the Danish Customs and Tax Administration—had been brought as part of a wide-reaching pursuit to recover circa £1.5bn lost in 2012 to 2015 to dividend tax reclaims SKAT alleged it was not liable to pay.

Its various causes of action—against more than 100 defendants in total—included allegations of fraud, negligent participation and negligent misstatement.

The litigation was so vast, the trial was anticipated to last more than a year. Two mini-trials to address preliminary issues that would subsequently inform the main proceedings were themselves on the scale of serious High Court litigation.

It is the first of such mini-trials that has given rise to the decision of Mr Justice Andrew

If you are not a subscriber, subscribe now to read this content
If you are already a subscriber sign in
...or Register for two weeks' free access to subscriber content

MOVERS & SHAKERS

Hugh James—Phil Edwards

Hugh James—Phil Edwards

Serious injury teambolstered by high-profile partner hire

Freeths—Melanie Stancliffe

Freeths—Melanie Stancliffe

Firm strengthens employment team with partner hire

DAC Beachcroft—Tim Barr

DAC Beachcroft—Tim Barr

Lawyers’ liability practice strengthened with partner appointment in London

NEWS
Tech companies will be legally required to prevent material that encourages or assists serious self-harm appearing on their platforms, under Online Safety Act 2023 regulations due to come into force in the autumn
Commercial leasehold, the defence of insanity and ‘consent’ in the criminal law are among the next tranche of projects for the Law Commission
The Bar has a culture of ‘impunity’ and ‘collusive bystanding’ in which making a complaint is deemed career-ending due to a ‘cohort of untouchables’ at the top, Baroness Harriet Harman KC has found
Lawyers have broadly welcomed plans to electronically tag up to 22,000 more offenders, scrap most prison terms below a year and make prisoners ‘earn’ early release
David Lammy, Ellie Reeves and Baroness Levitt have taken up office at the Ministry of Justice, following the cabinet reshuffle
back-to-top-scroll