The taxpayer’s attempts to obtain to obtain documents from third parties were not sufficient to enable the taxpayer to successfully argue that the documents were not within his possession or power, and his appeal against penalties for failing to comply with HMRC’s information notice was dismissed. 

On 29 March 2022, HM Revenue and Customs (HMRC) issued an information notice (under FA 2008, Sch 36) to the appellant in relation to the tax year 2018/19. HMRC issued the notice as: (1) HMRC believed that the appellant received funds from a company through a remuneration trust scheme, and the amounts received were disguised remuneration; and (2) HMRC further believed that the appellant may have used an arrangement intended to avoid liability to the ‘loan charge’. (3) HMRC requested information and documents to check whether the information included in the appellant’s tax return about disguised remuneration loans was correct. On 4