The Upper Tribunal has handed down its decision in HMRC’s appeal in the leading High Income Child Benefit Charge (HICBC) case (HMRC -v- Wilkes [2021] UKUT 0150 (TCC)).

In a binding judgment, the Upper Tribunal has decided that HMRC may not impose the HICBC by means of “Discovery Assessments” where the individual liable to the charge did not file a SA tax return. 

As HMRC has lost this appeal, it means they were wrong to impose the HICBC by Discovery Assessments on hundreds of thousands of UK taxpayers subject to the HICBC but not filing SA tax returns.   

The HICBC was i...