Circleplane Limited v The Commissioners for HMRC

Circleplane Limited v The Commissioners for HMRC

The Upper Tribunal has jurisdiction to strike out an appeal for abuse of process or if it is academic, even after permission to appeal is granted. In this case, the appeal was academic as between the parties, the conditions for hearing an academic appeal were not met, and it was not in the interests of justice to allow substitution of parties or to anonymise the proceedings. The appeal was therefore struck out and the privacy/anonymity application refused.

Parties
Appellant: Circleplane Limited; Respondents: The Commissioners for His Majesty’s Revenue and Customs
Jurisdiction
England and Wales
Judgment Date
30 July 2025
Procedural Posture
Tax Appeal (recusal and Procedural Applications) / Upper Tribunal Appeal, Post Permission, Applications to Strike Out, Substitute Parties, and for Privacy/anonymity
Outcome
Appeal struck out; applications refused
Legal Topics
Recusal of Judge, Perception of Bias, Abuse of Process, Jurisdiction to Strike Out, Academic Appeals, Open Justice, Anonymity and Privacy in Proceedings
Tax Law Administrative Law Judicial Procedure Recusal of Judge Perception of Bias Abuse of Process Jurisdiction to Strike Out Academic Appeals +2 more

Case Brief

Summary, issues, holding and outcome

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Parties

Circleplane Limited

Appellant

The Commissioners for His Majesty’s Revenue and Customs

Respondents

Procedural Posture

Tax Appeal (recusal and Procedural Applications) / Upper Tribunal Appeal, Post Permission, Applications to Strike Out, Substitute Parties, and for Privacy/anonymity

Legal Issues

  1. 1 Whether the Upper Tribunal has jurisdiction to strike out an appeal as an abuse of process or because it is academic
  2. 2 Whether the appeal should be struck out given the underlying FTT proceedings have been determined
  3. 3 Whether new parties should be substituted to render the appeal non-academic

Ratio Decidendi

The Upper Tribunal has jurisdiction to strike out an appeal for abuse of process or if it is academic, even after permission to appeal is granted. In this case, the appeal was academic as between the parties, the conditions for hearing an academic appeal were not met, and it was not in the interests of justice to allow substitution of parties or to anonymise the proceedings. The appeal was therefore struck out and the privacy/anonymity application refused.

Court Disposition

Appeal struck out; applications refused

Orders

  • Cross-Applications to substitute parties refused
  • Appeal struck out as academic and not in the interests of justice