UK Supreme Court issues Scottish Power v HMRC corporation tax decision
UK Supreme Court decided Scottish Power (SPCL) Ltd v HMRC [2026] UKSC 35 on 21 October 2026, a corporation tax appeal seeking to reconcile a century of statutory caselaw, with implications for legacy capital tax positions.
Hogan Lovells reports that the UK Supreme Court handed down its decision on 21 October 2026 in Scottish Power (SPCL) Limited v HMRC [2026] UKSC 35, a corporation tax appeal against HMRC. The firm's note says the judgment makes a sustained effort to reconcile more than 100 years of caselaw on statutory continuity — how earlier capital tax provisions interact with later replacements — which matters for historic assessments and for taxpayers holding legacy capital allowance and depreciation positions.
The significance for major-firm clients is two-fold. First, the outcome potentially determines the treatment of old capital allowance and depreciation positions across a wide population of corporate taxpayers and their advisers. Second, because the reasoning is described as resolving an arc of case law running back into the early twentieth century, it may shape how HMRC argues continuity of statutory provisions in other disputes, and how taxpayers resist.
Practitioners should read the judgment, press summary and HMRC's position before advising clients to revisit open years, and should watch for administrative follow-through or an appeal to the House of Lords. One law-firm alert is the only source here and the holding is characterised only in general terms, so the precise scope of the ruling is uncertain and this summary is provisional.