London-based Dorsey partner and tax specialist Simon Whitehead discusses in International Taxation the issue of filing deadlines for cross-border group relief claims in light of the recent Marks & Spencer case. In 2005, the House of Lords ruled that these claims (other than those simple within time claims just for cash tax paid) should be brought in the High Court. Generally, the statutory time period for bringing such claims is six years from the date the advance corporation tax (ACT) was paid.
Nonetheless, Whitehead argues that claims for relief might yet extend well beyond this maximum period of six years. He describes how a series of High Court rulings could set the statute of limitations guillotine as far back as 1973.
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This article originally appeared in the February 2006 issue of International Tax Review.