Summary 
 
HM Revenue and Customs (HMRC) did not give the taxpayer valid notice of a tax return enquiry by sending a copy of the notice to his agent, and the taxpayer was not estopped by convention from denying that HMRC had opened a valid enquiry. 
 
Background 
 
HMRC issued a closure notice to amend the appellant’s tax return for 2003/04. The appellant appealed. A preliminary issue arose about whether HMRC had properly opened the tax return enquiry (i.e. whether HMRC failed to give notice of their intention to enquire into the appellant’s return within the time allowed). 
 
The appellant lived at a property in Cumbria from about 1991. In around October 2001, he took a lease of a property in Cheshire (Heybridge Lane). The appellant stayed at Heybridge Lane at various times between October 2003 and August 2004. In