Tax Treaty Case Law around the Globe 2020

S. 367Chapter 31 United Kingdom: Application of the Taxpayer for the Disclosure of Documents Exchanged during the Mutual Agreement Procedure

Philip Baker

31.1. Introduction

McCabe v. Revenue & Customs Commissioners is, as far as the author is aware, the first case reported in the United Kingdom in which a taxpayer attempted (unsuccessfully) to obtain documents exchanged between the competent authorities in the context of the mutual agreement procedure (MAP). It arose from a procedural application made during the course of an appeal against various tax assessments. The decision of the lowest tax court, the First-Tier Tribunal (Tax Chamber), was unsuccessfully appealed to the Upper Tribunal. The case is less about the interpretation of any particular tax treaty (in this case, the Belgium-United Kingdom Income and Capital Tax Treaty (1987)) than it is about the nature of the MAP, as well as some aspects relating to the status of the Commentaries on the OECD Model Tax Convention.

S. 36831.2. Facts of the case

Kevin McCabe is an English businessman and investor. For those more interested in football than in tax treaties, you may know of his involvement with the Sheffield United Football Club and his dis...