Gresh (Hastings Bass) PC refuses leave to appeal

At the end of last year Babbé successfully represented HMRC in this well-publicised Guernsey Court of Appeal case, which established HMRC’s right to intervene in Guernsey’s first Hastings Bass application. HMRC has since been resisting an application by Mr Gresh for leave to appeal to the Privy Council, arguing that the case does not raise general issues as to indirect enforcement of foreign tax. The Privy Council has now upheld that argument in refusing leave to Mr Gresh to appeal, entitling HMRC to join in the substantive Hastings Bass issue. The Guernsey parties will watch with interest the outcome of the appeals to the English Court of Appeal in the cases of Pitt v Holt and of Futter v Futter.