Addison Lee founder John Griffin has been ordered to pay £20.5 million in tax after a London tribunal dismissed his claim for non-domicile status. The ruling, made this week, covers the period from 2013 to 2020.
Griffin, who was born in 1942 and moved to London at the age of nine, had argued for non-domicile status due to his connection to Ireland. He stated, “I was and am besotted with Ireland, infatuated with Ireland. I believe that I have always been and am Irish.”
HM Revenue and Customs (HMRC) challenged this, asserting that England was his home, where he raised his family and built his business. Tribunal judges Michaela Snelders and Gill Hunter concluded that by April 5, 2013, Sir John had “settled in England in every meaningful sense.”
The tribunal noted that Griffin spent eight nights in Ireland in 2015, one of the years he claimed domicile there, which it deemed “inconsistent with someone seriously preparing for permanent relocation.” The ruling means his worldwide income from the specified period is subject to UK tax rules.