Cathal Mcloughlin

Cathal is an Associate who joined the Tax Disputes and Investigations Team in January 2022 from a Manchester firm at which he trained and qualified. Before that, Cathal worked at HMRC; starting in their Counter-Avoidance team before moving to their Customs, Excise and Environmental Taxes Litigation team.

Cathal has experience working for individual and corporate clients across multiple disciplines and sectors including national restaurant chains, hoteliers, property developers and tech businesses.

Cathal also has experience in sports-related matters, including assisting in respect of one of The Lawyer's Top 20 Cases for 2025 in a claim brought by McLaren against three-time IndyCar champion Álex Palou.

Key Experience

• Working for HMRC in investigating and, where appropriate, litigating in respect of schemes relating to:
  • Employment Benefit Trusts (onshore and offshore)
  • Gilt strip planning
  • Sideways loss relief claims (often in relation to investments in film)
• Working for HMRC in respect of litigation concerned with:
  • The Alcohol Wholesaler Registration Scheme
  • The meaning of "holding" for the purposes of the Excise Goods (Holding, Movement and Duty Point) Regulations 2010
  • Import duty classification
  • Liability to landfill tax in respect of certain waste materials colloquially referred to as "fluff"
• Acting for two directors/shareholders of a technology-based business who invested company funds in cryptocurrency, utilising HMRC's COP 9 Procedure in order to ensure an agreeable resolution for all involved.
• Acting for an individual in respect of under-declared income tax, again utilising HMRC's COP 9 procedure in order to try to facilitate resolution.
• Acting for a UK-based import company in relation to an import tariff classification dispute with HMRC under the EU 's Combined Nomenclature pursuant to which HMRC issued a C18 Post Clearance Demand for under-declared customs duty.
• Acting for an individual in respect of discovery assessments raised by HMRC regarding the individual 's income tax payments. The appeal hinged on the individual 's classification as either an employee or a partner of an LLP based on arguments surrounding the “salaried members rules” in sections 863A - 863I of the Income Taxes (Trading and Other Income) Act 2005.
• Acting for clients in relation to a claim for an account of profits against a former director who diverted corporate opportunities to his own company.
• Acting for a company in relation to a breach of a commercial participator agreement against a national charity.
• Acting for an appellant in respect of an appeal following a trial. The appeal concerned estoppel relating to certain rights in which the trial judge stated that the nature of the concerned easement made the case “highly unusual… arguably exceptional”. Matter proceeded to a hearing at the Court of Appeal.
• Acting for the seller of multiple hotels in relation to a claim brought by the buyer for COVID-related frustration in an attempt to secure the return of the deposit and to repudiate the contract.

Career History

Associate, Mishcon de Reya LLP
Trainee solicitor/Solicitor, Kuit Steinart Levy LLP
Paralegal, HMRC
BPP University, Legal Practice Course
Bangor University, LLB Law