Jody Scheckter has lost his appeal against a tax bill of £1,457,634 linked to losses from his organic buffalo farming business, bringing an end to a long-running dispute with HM Revenue and Customs.
The former Formula One world champion had challenged HMRC's view that the farming partnership wrongly offset losses from the business against profits from other parts of the enterprise between 2008 and 2010. The tax relief at the centre of the case was only available if the business became profitable within five years of being established.
That proved to be the key issue. The partnership had recorded a loss in almost every year since it was founded, and HMRC argued that meant the arrangement did not qualify. In 2019, the tax authority declared the structure invalid and issued the repayment demand that eventually became the focus of the appeal.
What the judge said
Judge Tony Beare said it was impossible to be involved in the case without feeling considerable sadness, describing the project as one that had been conceived with imagination and originality by Scheckter and had involved a great deal of financial capital and personal energy.
He also noted that Scheckter had been extremely passionate about the positive effects healthier eating would bring and wanted the business to be a model for organic farming and healthi.
Scheckter's legal challenge focused on the commercial pressures facing the farm, including increased energy costs, a reduction in milk volumes, and the additional capital investment required for future-proofing. But the ruling means the former racing driver is now left with the HMRC demand after the court found against him.
From the track to the farm
Scheckter's racing career remains one of the strongest parts of his legacy. Between 1972 and 1980, he won 10 grands prix and claimed 33 podium positions in Formula One. His peak came in 1979, when he won the Formula One world championship with Ferrari.
That title remained Ferrari's last drivers' championship for 21 years, until Michael Schumacher delivered the team's next crown in 2000. More than four decades after Scheckter's championship, his off-track business interests have now drawn the most recent headline.
In 2024, Scheckter wound down the dairy and buffalo farming operations and relocated to northern Italy. The latest ruling closes one chapter of a tax dispute that has followed the business for years and leaves the £1.5m bill in place.
