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England and Wales Court of Appeal (Civil Division) Decisions |
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You are here: BAILII >> Databases >> England and Wales Court of Appeal (Civil Division) Decisions >> Barclays Bank Plc & Anor v HM Revenue & Customs [2007] EWCA Civ 442 (11 May 2007) URL: http://www.bailii.org/ew/cases/EWCA/Civ/2007/442.html Cite as: [2007] STI 1436, [2007] EWCA Civ 442, [2007] BTC 338, [2008] STC 476, 79 TC 18 |
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COURT OF APPEAL (CIVIL DIVISION)
ON APPEAL FROM
THE HIGH COURT OF JUSTICE (CHANCERY DIVISION)
DAVID RICHARDS J
Strand, London, WC2A 2LL |
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B e f o r e :
LADY JUSTICE ARDEN
and
LORD JUSTICE SCOTT BAKER
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(1) BARCLAYS BANK PLC (2) TRUSTEES OF THE BARCLAYS BANK PENSION FUND |
Appellants |
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- and - |
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COMMISSIONERS FOR HER MAJESTY'S REVENUE AND CUSTOMS |
Respondent |
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Ingrid Simler QC (instructed by Solicitors, HMRC) for the Respondent
Hearing date : 1 May 2007
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Crown Copyright ©
LADY JUSTICE ARDEN:
"relevant benefits' means any pension, lump sum, gratuity or other like benefit given or to be given on retirement or death, or in anticipation of retirement, or, in connection with past service, after retirement or death, or to be given on or in anticipation of or in connection with any change in the nature of the service of the employee in question…"
Background
"(i) The payments were motivated by a combination of moral duty and a commercial desire to avoid hostility of the trade unions;
(ii) The payments were calculated on a planned, commercial basis, by reference to the complexity of the tax affairs of the pensioners;
(iii) The calculation of the payments was completed on a careful basis and only after considerable work and intense activity.
(iv) In so far as it is a question of fact I find that the payments were not made in consideration of any past services provided by pensioners who had been employees of plc but rather to compensate the pensioners for loss of the special tax related services."
Discussion and conclusions
Primary submission: "in connection with"
"The majority in the Court of Appeal held that it was a sufficient answer to the appellant's argument to construe the words "in connection with" as meaning "having to do with". This explanation of the meaning of the phrase was given by McFarlane J in Re Nanaimo Community Hotel Limited [1944] 4 D.L.R. 638. It was adopted by Somervell L.J. in Johnson v. Johnson [1952] P. 47, 50-51. It may be that in some contexts the substitution of the words "having to do with" will solve the entire problem which is created by the use of the words "in connection with." But I am not, with respect, satisfied that it does so in this case, and Mr. Holgate did not rely on this solution to the difficulty. As he said, the phrase is a protean one which tends to draw its meaning from the words which surround it. In this case it is the surrounding words, when taken together with the words used in the 1991 Amending Order and its wider context, which provide the best guide to a sensible solution of the problem which has been created by the ambiguity."
Alternative submission: "relevant benefits" in the context of a "retirement benefits scheme"
"The task of the court is to ascertain the intention of Parliament; you cannot look at the section, still less a subsection, in isolation, to ascertain that intention; you must look at all the admissible surrounding circumstances before starting to construe the Act."
Disposition
Lord Justice Scott Baker:
Lord Justice May: