Ingenious lost a case against HM Revenue and Customs in August 2016 that claimed its film schemes artificially created losses through investments in films so investors could claim tax relief.
In May, the company sought to “clarify a technical point” on that ruling over whether film production costs claimed were capital costs and therefore not tax deductible, which could have overturned the 2016 decision.
However, the judge ruled, “with misgivings and reluctance”, that the film production costs were capital costs and therefore not tax deductible.
Ingenious chief executive Neil Forster said: “We strongly disagree with the Tribunal’s clarification and find it wholly unsatisfactory that the Tribunal reached this decision with ‘misgivings and reluctance’.
“We will be appealing the entire decision of the Tribunal,” he said.
Former cricketer David Gower, who invested via Ingenious, has also hit out at HMRC: “People were accusing the innocent investors of trying to evade [their] responsibilities. That is completely untrue.
“Innocent investors went in on advice and if anyone has been immoral and unfair it’s HMRC,” reports UK newspaper the Daily Mail.
Appeal confirmed
Forster also refuted media reports that the May 17 Tribunal ruling was an appeal, stating that it “has been presented in the media in a wholly-biased manner which misrepresents the facts and misleads the reader”.
He explained that the Tribunal case was not a bid to overturn to August 2016 decision.
“Ingenious believes this further decision compounds the errors made by the First Tier Tax Tribunal and reinforces the need to take this matter to a higher court,” the company said in a statement.
The appeal to the Upper Tribunal is likely to be heard during 2018 and Ingenious said it is confident of victory.
Ingenious Media was founded in 1998 and has four operating divisions, investments, ventures, asset management, and corporate finance.
