Billionaire Michael Platt’s BlueCrest Capital Management has said the UK is “no longer a serious contender” as a place to do business after losing a £200 million legal battle against the UK tax authorities.
On Wednesday, the firm lost a roughly four-year legal battle about how payouts for hedge fund traders should be taxed.
It is the latest firm to criticise UK tax policy, claiming that it is being impacted by a perceived unfair tax system.
The Supreme Court unanimously dismissed an appeal by BlueCrest in its legal battle against Her Majesty’s Revenues & Customs’s (HMRC’s) attempts to tax its partners as employees.
The legislation specifically related to whether a member of a limited liability partnership should be considered a partner or employees in relation to income tax and national insurance contribution payments.
It ruled that most of their payments were “disguised salary”, with these not based solely on the profit or losses of the partnership.
BlueCrest said after the decision it believes HMRC’s published guidance “was wrong”.
In a statement after the ruling, BlueCrest added: “Businesses operating in the UK need to be able to rely on HMRC’s guidance to organise their tax affairs with certainty.
“Without that certainty, and in an increasingly competitive global market, the UK is no longer a serious contender as a jurisdiction in which to do business.”
BlueCrest was founded in 2000 by Mr Platt and fellow trader William Reeves.
An HMRC spokesperson said: “We welcome the Supreme Court’s decision, which confirms how the Salaried Member Rules should be implemented. As always, we will consider if any updates should be made to our guidance in light of this judgment.”
