A recent UK Court of Appeal case found that a common law duty of care was owed to a taxpayer by an unidentified Revenue employee who chose to complete an application for a subcontractor's registration card without the subcontractor's authority, resulting in delay and leading to economic loss for the taxpayer.

This is a highly unusual case where the taxpayer sued the Revenue for damages under Common Law.

The claim in the proceedings was for damages for breach of duty in failing to process within a reasonable time the claimant's application for a certificate under the scheme established in respect of sub-contractors in the construction industry.

A more detailed commentary on the case is available at the Commentary on Cases section of this issue of tax.point.