Income tax loss relief claims were denied as share transactions did not amount to a trading activity carried on commercially. 

The appellant was a partner in a professional firm. In his personal capacity, he bought and sold shares for a number of years from early 2006. Those transactions were treated as capital for tax purposes. The transactions were carried out in two ways: (1) some were carried out on his behalf by financial advisers on a discretionary basis with no input from the appellant; (2) the rest were carried out on an ‘execution only’ basis, with the appellant making decisions as to which shares to buy or sell. He did not undertake any transactions in 2012/13 and 2013/14. 

In mid-2014, the appellant inherited a substantial amount of money. He retired from the partnership on 31 January 2016. The appellant placed the majority of his inheritance in a discretionary investment account, where the investment decisions were