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HMRC may provide clearance if requested in writing in advance of certain transactions taking place. The reason for obtaining clearance is that it can provide some degree of certainty to the taxpayer. There are three main types of clearances available:

1. •

   statutory clearances

2. •

   non-statutory clearances

3. •

   statutory approvals

The general principle is that taxpayers should be able to rely on statutory and non-statutory clearances provided the application provides a full and frank disclosure of the relevant details of the transaction(s) and issues for which clearance is being sought. However, HMRC will not be bound by a clearance decision if there is a change of law or court decision, or if insufficient information has been provided.

Further commentary on whether advice from HMRC gives rise to a legitimate expectation that the advice will be followed, together with a discussion of judicial review on the topic, can be found in Simon’s Taxes A5.303.

HMRC will not give clearance in respect of the following:

1. •

   whether the settlement legislation applies to a particular scenario (see the Income shifting