UK vs Royal Bank of Canada: JUDGMENT
Case Information
- Court: Supreme Court of the United Kingdom
- Case Number: [2023] EWCA Civ 695
- Applicant: Royal Bank of Canada
- Defendant: Commissioners for His Majesty’s Revenue and Customs
- Judgment Date: 12 February 2025
This case examines whether payments received by the Royal Bank of Canada (RBC) under an oil exploration agreement were subject to UK taxation. The core issue concerns the interpretation of Article 6(2) of the UK/Canada Double TaxationDouble Taxation occurs when the same income or financial transaction is taxed twice, typically in different jurisdictions. It can arise in two primary contexts: economic double taxation, where the same income is taxed twice in the hands of different taxpayers, and juridical double taxation, where the same taxpayer is taxed on the same income in more than one country. Double... More Convention 1978, which governs the taxation of income derived from immovable property, including natural resources.
The case originates from Sulpetro Ltd, a Canadian corporation, which owned a subsidiary, Sulpetro (UK), licensed to explore and extract oil from the Buchan Field in the North Sea. In 1986, BP acquired Sulpetro’s rights under a sale and purchase agreement (SPA), agreeing to make contingent payments based on oil prices (“the Payments”). RBC, as Sulpetro’s creditor, later acquired the right to receive these Payments.