Realbuzz Group LTD v The Commissioners for HMRC
| Judge | Mr Mohammed |
| Judgment Date | 01 May 2025 |
| Neutral Citation | [2025] UKFTT 493 (TC) |
| Year | 2025 |
| Court | First-tier Tribunal (Tax Chamber) |
| Counsel | Mr Edward Hellier Of Counsel,For |
| Date | 01 May 2025 |
Neutral Citation: [2025] UKFTT 00493 (TC)
Case Number: TC09502
FIRST-TIER TRIBUNAL
TAX CHAMBER
Taylor House, 88 Rosebery Avenue,
London EC1R 4QU
Appeal reference: TC/2023/16725
CORPORATION TAX – DISCOVERY ASSESSMENT – research and development relief
– whether officer should reasonably be expected to have been aware of excessive claim for
relief when enquiry window closed – what information was made available to the officer?
Heard on: 28 March 2025
Judgment date: 1 May 2025
Before
TRIBUNAL JUDGE MARILYN MCKEEVER
MR MOHAMMED FAROOQ
Between
REALBUZZ GROUP LTD
Appellant
and
THE COMMISSIONERS FOR HIS MAJESTY’S REVENUE AND CUSTOMS
Respondents
Representation:
For the Appellant:Mr Edward Hellier of counsel, instructed by Cowgill Holloway LLP,
accountants
For the Respondents: Mr Paul Marks, litigator of HM Revenue and Customs’ Solicitor’s
Office
DECISION
INTRODUCTION
1.This is the Appellant’s appeal against a discovery assessment issued on 1 June 2023
disallowing a Research and Development (R&D) Relief claim in the sum of £335,452.57 for
the accounting period ended 30 April 2020 (APE 2020). The claim was made in an amended
corporation tax return received on 31 March 2021.
2.It is common ground that the officer who made the assessment (who gave oral evidence
at the hearing) made a relevant discovery and that the R&D relief which had been given was
or had become excessive.
3.The sole ground of appealis that HMRC were not entitled to raise the discovery
assessment as an officer “could have been reasonably expected, on the basis of the
information made available to him, to have been aware [of the excessive relief] before he
ceased to be entitled to give notice of enquiry” into the return for APE 2020.
4.A secondary issue is what constituted the “information made available” to the officer
and, in particular, whether it included the R&D Report provided on 15 November 2021 after
HMRC opened an enquiry into the Realbuzz Group Ltd’s (Realbuzz/the Company)
corporation tax return for the accounting period ended 30 April 2021 (APE 2021).
5.Statutoryreferences are to schedule 18 to the Finance Act 1998 unless otherwise
specified.
THEPROCEDURALHISTORY
6.On 22 December 2020, Realbuzz filed its corporation tax return for APE 2020. It filed
an amended return on 23 March 2021 and a further amendment on 31 March 2021. This last
amendment included a claim for R&D relief of £335,452.57. The claim was supported by an
R&D report which accompanied theamended return. The report (the2020 Report) was
prepared by the Company’s accountants, Cowgill Holloway LLP (Cowgills) and specifically
by Cowgills’ R&D team following extensive discussions with the Company’s technical team
and an assessment of the individual projects undertaken in the period to ascertain whether
theyqualified for R&D relief. In makingthisassessment,Cowgillsconsidered the tax
legislation, the BIS Guidelines (which we refer to below) and HMRC’s published guidance in
their Manuals.
7.Realbuzz filed its corporation tax return for APE 2021 on 13 July 2021. HMRC opened
an enquiry into that return, which also included a claim for R&D relief, on 17 September
2021. On 15 November 2021 Cowgills responded to HMRC’s questions and sent an R&D
report for APE 2021 (the 2021 Report) to HMRC. The 2021 Report was similar in format to
the 2020 Report and included a number of projects which had begun in 2019 and which had
also been included in the 2020 Report.
8.On 13 April 2022, the officer then dealing with the enquiry, a Mr Patel, wrote to
Cowgills stating that most of the projects did not fall within the definition of R&D for tax
purposes. He considered that there were a few sub-projects which might qualify. Mr Patel
invited Cowgills to explain why they thought that the projects which Mr Patel had rejected in
fact qualified. He sent a questionnaire to be completed in relation to specific projects and
indicated that he would then obtain the opinion of HMRC’s software specialists.
9.30 April 2022 was the last date for HMRC to open an enquiry into the APE 2020 return
(LDE).
10.Ms Martin, who gave oral evidence at the hearing took over the case from Mr Patel in
September 2022.
1
Get this document and AI-powered insights with a free trial of vLex and Vincent AI
Get Started for FreeStart Your 3-day Free Trial of vLex and Vincent AI, Your Precision-Engineered Legal Assistant
-
Access comprehensive legal content with no limitations across vLex's unparalleled global legal database
-
Build stronger arguments with verified citations and CERT citator that tracks case history and precedential strength
-
Transform your legal research from hours to minutes with Vincent AI's intelligent search and analysis capabilities
-
Elevate your practice by focusing your expertise where it matters most while Vincent handles the heavy lifting
Start Your 3-day Free Trial of vLex and Vincent AI, Your Precision-Engineered Legal Assistant
-
Access comprehensive legal content with no limitations across vLex's unparalleled global legal database
-
Build stronger arguments with verified citations and CERT citator that tracks case history and precedential strength
-
Transform your legal research from hours to minutes with Vincent AI's intelligent search and analysis capabilities
-
Elevate your practice by focusing your expertise where it matters most while Vincent handles the heavy lifting
Start Your 3-day Free Trial of vLex and Vincent AI, Your Precision-Engineered Legal Assistant
-
Access comprehensive legal content with no limitations across vLex's unparalleled global legal database
-
Build stronger arguments with verified citations and CERT citator that tracks case history and precedential strength
-
Transform your legal research from hours to minutes with Vincent AI's intelligent search and analysis capabilities
-
Elevate your practice by focusing your expertise where it matters most while Vincent handles the heavy lifting
Start Your 3-day Free Trial of vLex and Vincent AI, Your Precision-Engineered Legal Assistant
-
Access comprehensive legal content with no limitations across vLex's unparalleled global legal database
-
Build stronger arguments with verified citations and CERT citator that tracks case history and precedential strength
-
Transform your legal research from hours to minutes with Vincent AI's intelligent search and analysis capabilities
-
Elevate your practice by focusing your expertise where it matters most while Vincent handles the heavy lifting
Start Your 3-day Free Trial of vLex and Vincent AI, Your Precision-Engineered Legal Assistant
-
Access comprehensive legal content with no limitations across vLex's unparalleled global legal database
-
Build stronger arguments with verified citations and CERT citator that tracks case history and precedential strength
-
Transform your legal research from hours to minutes with Vincent AI's intelligent search and analysis capabilities
-
Elevate your practice by focusing your expertise where it matters most while Vincent handles the heavy lifting