Court of Appeal rules on DTT Interest Article anti-abuse provision

The Court of Appeal has handed down its judgment in HMRC v Burlington Loan Management DAC [2026] EWCA Civ 461. In an appeal that has garnered significant international interest, the Court held that “take advantage of” in Article 12(5) of the UK-Ireland double tax treaty (i.e. the Interest Article) requires a party to obtain the benefit of the Interest Article in a way that is contrary to the object and purpose of the treaty. The Court held that requirement was not satisfied on the facts of this this case and dismissed the appeal.

John Brinsmead-Stockham KC and Edward Hellier appeared for HMRC.