Billionaire Michael Platt's BlueCrest Capital Management has said the UK is “no longer a serious competitor” as a place to do business after losing a £200m legal battle against the UK tax authorities.
On Wednesday, the company lost a roughly four-year legal battle over how payments to hedge fund operators should be taxed.
It is the latest company to criticize UK tax policy, claiming it is being affected by a tax system perceived as unfair.
The Supreme Court has unanimously dismissed an appeal by BlueCrest in its legal battle against attempts by Her Majesty's Revenues & Customs (HMRC) to tax its partners as employees.
The legislation specifically concerned whether a member of a limited liability company should be considered a partner or employee in relation to income tax and national insurance contribution payments.
He decided that most of his payments were “disguised salaries,” and were not based solely on the partnership's profits or losses.
BlueCrest said after the decision that it believes the guidance published by HMRC “was wrong”.
In a statement following the ruling, BlueCrest added: “Businesses operating in the UK should be able to rely on HMRC guidance to organize their tax affairs with certainty.
“Without that certainty, and in an increasingly competitive global market, the UK is no longer a serious competitor as a jurisdiction in which to do business.”
BlueCrest was founded in 2000 by Platt and fellow trader William Reeves.
An HMRC spokesperson said: “We welcome the Supreme Court's decision, which confirms how the Salaried Member Rules should be implemented. As always, we will consider whether any updates should be made to our guidance in light of this ruling.”
