A multi-millionaire businessman who relied on HM Revenue and Customs guidance to try to preserve his non-resident status, but who was found by the Court of Appeal to be a UK resident, has been given the right to appeal to the Supreme Court.
Robert Gaines-Cooper lives inthe Seychelles, but has links to the UK and relying on guidance in HMRC’s IR20 leaflet, claimed he was non-resident and not domiciled in the UK.
The Court denied him the right to appeal with regard to his domicile, but his appeal against the ruling that he is resident will be heard in 2011.
In a recent poll carried out by , 86 per cent of respondents considered that his appeal will be unsuccessful.