Explainaway Ltd Decision: Corporate Capital Gains and Derivative Transactions

This article looks at the recent First Tier Tribunal decision in the case of Explainaway Ltd, in which the taxpayer sought to use cash settled financial futures to manage exposure to corporation tax on capital gains. The development of the Ramsay principle and comparison with the decision in the case of Howard Peter Schofield are also considered. The Explainaway case is the first instance of application of the loan relationship unallowable purpose test.