No Capital Gains tax exemption for entrepreneur under UK-Mauritius treaty

British entrepreneur Ian Lenagan has suffered a defeat in his attempt to secure an exemption from capital gains taxes under the UK-Mauritius tax treaty.

Lenagan theatre producer and shareholder of London Broncos, chairman and owner of Wigan Warriors, and former owner of Oxford United F.C. In 2016 he was appointed Chairman of the Football League.

The case related to the sale of shares in Telework Group PLC, a British software business in Mauritius, in 2000.

Lenagan – alongside Geoffrey Richard Haworth and Kleinwort Benson Trustees Ltd – reportedly argued a capital gains tax exemption applied to them under the terms of the UK-Mauritius tax treaty.

“However, Judge Harriet Morgan ruled that, as they were residents of the UK – the place of effective management – it didn’t apply,” Wigan Today reported.

“The Mauritius trustees did not have a proactive role as regards the successful implementation of the plan,” Judge Morgan wrote.”Essentially, they were passive participants in the plan who largely merely reacted to what was put to them.”

Original article at Wigan Today