The appellant company appealed against an information notice by HM Revenue and Customs (HMRC) under FA 2008, Sch 36, that required (among other things) two pieces of ‘information’ to be provided in connection with the company's accounts, which showed a contribution to a remuneration trust.
The appellant argued that the information notice was defective in asking for subjective opinion, which was not lawfully required to be provided. The appellant submitted that there had been a misunderstanding of the remuneration trust deed by HMRC, from which the requests for information flowed.
Reference was made by the appellant to HMRC's Compliance Handbook at CH23240, which makes clear that an information notice may not be used to require the supply of opinion or speculation, and that information notices should only properly require the supply of facts.
The First-tier Tribunal (FTT) considered that
