Help finding details of a case?

Tarzana

Hi, I'm looking for information on the following case:

Burman (Inspector of Taxes) v Hedges and Butler

I can only find scant details about it on Google, and I've no idea where to search for it. I'm not a law student, it's just part of another course so I'm a bit clueless.

I don't have any subscriptions to any law databases or anything.

Help!

Thanks.

spygirl

Have you tried checking the judgements section on courts.ie if it's an Irish case? There is another website which has information regarding judgements across the UK and Europe as well but for the life of me
can't think right now. Maybe a Google search might help you out on that one

Pat Mustard

I took a look online, on bailii.org etc. Couldn't find it. Nowhere for free anyway.

It's an English tax case.

I'd say that if the OP knows any student who goes to a college/university with a law library (they don't have to be law students), they should be able to access the online databases, including the law databases. They may be able to print out the case from their computer.

A search on the Justis database might show the case. It may be on Lexis/Nexis. Or maybe Westlaw UK.

IIRC the 'TC' in the case citation means the 'tax cases' law reports. It is possible that even if these law reports are not on any available database, they may be available in the old fashioned, paper format in the Law section of the library (assuming that there is a law section). Any student in the relevant university should have access to all of the library, to include the law section. The law librarian should be able to assist in finding the case, if it is available. If anyone can find a case report, it's a law librarian.

conorh91

The full citation is [1979] 1 W.L.R. 160; are we allowed post original judgments in full here?

I would PM you but there's a 15,000 word limit. Understandably.

Pat Mustard

Dunno. Does it infringe copyright if you posted the entire thing?

Just wondering if you could maybe either post an excerpt with the main reasoning of the case, or else is it possible to post the case for the purposes of your criticism/review under s.51 of the CRRA2000.

http://www.irishstatutebook.ie/2000/en/act/pub/0028/sec0051.html#sec51

hullaballoo

conorh91 wrote: »

The full citation is [1979] 1 W.L.R. 160; are we allowed post original judgments in full here?

I'm afraid not, unless it is available in full form on a free site who has licence to produce it.

This has always been the case (pre-Sherlock) but this is especially so for material that comes from behind a paywall.

It's a breach of the licence you get when you sign up and it's also probably a breach of acceptable use policies if you get access through work/college etc.

Silly situation that law is not made publicly available but there we have it. Not much we can do.

I need to add that post-Sherlock, you can only post a link with an excerpt whether the website has a paywall or not.

Edit: I've kept the bolded moderator bit to a minimum because it was a bit jarring all emboldened. It's all relevant to the reason for the rule, though.

conorh91

Sorry OP if you haven't found it elsewhere here's my basic outline for you.

Background
This was a case stated by the Special Commissioners for the purposes of the Income Tax Acts.

HB, one of a large group of companies, decided to sell the share capital of its wholly owned subsidiary, "OBD" to a Canadian company called "S Inc.". For the sole purpose of avoiding tax on the profit of the sale, HB entered into a tax avoidance scheme based on the provisions in the Income and Corporation Taxes Act 1970 (these concern the capital restructuring of companies in the same group and allow for consequent exemption from corporation tax).

This scheme involved the incorporation of two companies:

• V Ltd. with 100 £1 shares that were divided into 76 participating preference shares allotted to HB and carrying no voting rights, and 24 ordinary shares that were allotted to S Inc., and which carried all the voting rights and all the equity on a liquidation.
• The other company, "Z", was incorporated with 100 £1 ordinary shares that were allotted to "V".
  "Z" then purchased "OBD" from "HB" with money provided from "S"

"V" was next wound up voluntarily. The liquidator distributed £76 to the taxpayer company. The 100 shares in "Z" to the holders of the 24 ordinary shares, S Inc.

Thus the shares in "OBD" were transferred to "Z".
"Z" became wholly owned by S Inc.

Issue
Is HB liable for corporation tax on chargeable gains in respect of the foregoing transactions, in light of its claim that the only disposal it made was the sale of its shareholding in "OBD" to "Z", given that at the time of the sale, "Z" was a member of the same group of companies as HB?

Outcome
No

Ratio
Although "Z" acquired the shares from HB with money lent to it solely for that purpose by S Inc., that alone did not establish that "Z" was acting as an agent for S Inc. Exemption from corporation tax as per the Act did apply.