Following the news that HM Revenue & Customs (HMRC) has been granted leave to appeal to the Lords, the Professional Contractors Group has confirmed that it will continue to support Geoff Jones of Arctic Systems in the Jones v Garnett case.
PCG chairman Simon Juden said,"We are naturally disappointed that HMRC has chosen to prolong the uncertainty for hundreds of thousands of family businesses, rather than accepting the unanimous and common sense verdict delivered by three of the most senior judges in the land. We strongly believe that where a husband and wife share the burdens and hard work of running their business, they are both entitled to share in the reward. This is consistent not only with Norman Lamont's clear intention when he introduced the independent taxation of spouses, but also with standard practice in the divorce courts.
"Our thoughts are with Geoff and Diana Jones, who have already spent more than two years going through the courts, and with all the family business owners who welcomed the Court of Appeal ruling in December and thought it would give them certainty. They now face a further journey to seek clarity and fairness in this landmark tax case."
PCG is grateful to James Kessler QC, PCG members, Berg Kaprow Lewis, the Federation of Small Businesses, JSA and members of the public, as well as the legal team of Malcolm Gammie QC CBE, Keith Gordon, Anne Redston and David Smith for their continued and generous support.
PCG anticipates that it will be several months before the appeal is heard, and that judgment will be handed down towards the end of the year.