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Charman wins court victory over UK taxman

Axis Capital chairman John Charman

Axis chairman John Charman has won a victory over the UK taxman after a judge dismissed a case disputing £11.5 million in unpaid taxes relating to his 2006 divorce settlement, which is thought to be Britain’s most expensive in history.The case was thrown out of High Court on Monday after HM Revenue & Customs’ (HMRC) application to gain access to confidential court documents relating to Mr Charman’s £48 million divorce settlement.Mr Charman moved to Bermuda following his divorce, and disputed the claim that he owes £11.5 million in unpaid tax for the years 2001 to 2008.According to the UK publication, The Independent, judge Justice Coleridge, who was also the judge in the original divorce proceeding, said that as a general rule documents and other evidence produced in financial remedy proceedings are not disclosable to third parties outside the proceedings “save that exceptionally and rarely and for very good reason they can be disclosed with the leave of the court”.There was “no suggestion that the husband is guilty of tax evasion or criminal conduct in relation to his tax affairs — this is a routine tax assessment”, said the judge.Mr Charman and his wife married in 1976 and have two adult sons.