On 3 February the Supreme Court gave judgment in the long-running case of Grays Timber Products Limited v HMRC.
The Supreme Court took over from the House of Lords as the court of final appeal in the UK in October 2009. This case was the first ever tax case to reach the new Supreme Court.
This was also the first case to reach the courts concerning employee share awards under the rules of Part 7 of Income Tax (Earnings and Pensions) Act, introduced in 2003.
HMRC successfully defended the case and the appeal by the company was refused.
Tom Rollinson, Technical Policy Advisor for ESSU, commented: 'This is an important victory, confirming our view that where employment-related shares are sold for more than their true value, the excess will be chargeable to income tax.'
