Because of the tax avoidance scheme they signed up for

Essentially, an investment in a film partnership which was immediately lost (usually), but generated a benefit in the form of a huge tax deduction that could offset other income in the same year. The net result is a return to the investor which is paid by the taxman. The film credit rules were there to incentivise investment in the film industry, but were being exploited to create tax losses for wealthy individuals to shelter other income.

Unfortunately for them, HMRC challenged whether the film partnerships were actually trading with a view to a profit, and the courts decided HMRC were right and the tax deduction was denied. So, the actual net result was losing the cash they invested and owing the tax that they thought they’d saved to HMRC.

Posted By: SimonOTBC, Sep 4, 22:33:00