Revenue triumphs in non-EU tax battle
Non-European Union multinational companies with UK subsidiaries have lost their battle with Inland Revenue to reclaim huge sums of money from public coffers.
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According to experts, the Treasury stood to lose anything from £250m to £1bn if the judgement went against the Revenue, but the High Court barred the claims, the Financial Times reported.
The multinationals claimed the now defunct advanced corporation tax was levied unfairly against them and the claims were put forward on the back of a number of similar actions made by companies based in the EU, with operations in the UK.
But in this case, as the companies were based outside the EU, different legal arguments were made. The judge then ruled that the international agreements upon which the claims were based, had not been incorporated into domestic law, which requires an act of parliament to do so, and barring the companies from reclaiming the taxes.