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Jonathan Fisher QC wins important judicial review claim against HM Revenue & Customs 

The High Court has handed down a landmark ruling declaring that HM Revenue & Customs acted unlawfully when terminating an accountancy firm’s status as a tax agent and seeking to deprive the firm of the ability to act on behalf of their taxpayer clients when dealing with the Revenue. Christopher Lunn & Company v HMRC [2011] EWHC 240 (Admin)

In his judgment, Mr Justice Kenneth Parker held that the accountancy firm, Christopher Lunn & Co, had been treated unfairly by HM Revenue & Customs by not affording the firm an opportunity to make representations before terminating its tax agent status and for failing to explain the reasons behind its decision.

This is the first occasion in which a Court has considered the status of a tax agent and follows closely upon the report issued by the National Audit Office in October 2010 examining the role of tax agents. There are approximately 43,000 professional tax agent firms in the UK and the market for preparing tax returns is worth around £2.5 billion.

The case has generated much public interest and has been widely reported in the mainstream press including in the Daily Telegraph and the Guardian as well as business titles such as  FT Advisor and Accountancy Age.

 Christopher Lunn & Co strongly disputes any allegations of wrongdoing and continues to assist its clients in all respects. HMRC have been ordered to pay costs.

Jonathan Fisher QC appeared for Christopher Lunn & Co, instructed by McGrigors LLP.