The Tax Tribunal heard that Mr Shanthiratnam cashed in 1/3 of a bond as collateral for his business.
When he submitted his tax return HMRC enquired and corrected his tax return so that his tax bill was increased by about £20,000. Had he gone about sourcing collateral from his bonds in a different way he could have avoided further tax.
The Judge said he sympathised with the taxpayers view that double tax had been suffered; but that he should have understood what the tax result of his actions would be, before proceeding. The taxpayer’s appeal against the additional bill was dismissed.