Jody Scheckter ordered to pay £1.4 million after buffalo farm tax dispute
Former F1 champion Jody Scheckter lost a tax tribunal case and must pay a £1,457,634 bill tied to his organic buffalo farm.
Jody Scheckter, the 1979 Formula One world champion, was ordered by the First-Tier Tribunal to settle a £1,457,634 tax liability linked to his biodynamic buffalo farm at Laverstoke Park, Hampshire. An HMRC inspector had found that the partnership, Laverstoke Farm Produce, had wrongly applied sideways loss relief by offsetting continual annual losses against other income from 2008 to 2010. Judge Tony Beare rejected the appeal, emphasizing that the farm failed to become profitable within the five-year window required for the relief.
The tribunal expressed regret over the collapse of Scheckter’s “imaginative” organic-food venture, which ceased dairy and buffalo production in 2024 due to cost pressures. While the farm’s composting unit and a car festival remain operational, the tax bill now adds to the financial fallout from the failed enterprise.
Why it matters
The case highlights how tax relief rules can penalize unprofitable agricultural ventures, even for high-profile investors.
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