EM2101 - Working the Enquiry: Tax Cases: G Deacon & Sons v Roper 33TC66

A partner said the audited accounts were correct. He maintained that £29,000 which the Officer contended was business profits had come from betting and from entertainment fees. However the partner produced no evidence to support his statement. The Officer had been refused access to the firm’s books.

The Commissioners found that the profits had been understated by £28,000.

The High Court, after reviewing conflicting evidence, supported the Commissioners’ right to assume that the money came from business without direct evidence of improper entry in or omission from the books. There was abundant circumstantial evidence to justify their conclusion.