JODY SCHECKTER LOSES £1.4M TAX BATTLE OVER BUFFALO FARM

Former Formula One world champion Jody Scheckter has lost a court battle against HM Revenue and Customs over a backdated tax bill of £1,457,634 linked to his organic buffalo farming business. A tax inspector ruled that the farming partnership behind the venture, Laverstoke Farm Produce, wrongly offset losses against profits from other parts of Scheckter's business between 2008 and 2010, using a mechanism known as sideways loss relief. HMRC deemed the arrangement invalid in 2019 and demanded he pay the outstanding sum. The relief is available to farmers only if their business turns a profit within five years of being set up, and Laverstoke Farm Produce recorded a loss in almost every year since its founding.

Scheckter, who is South African-born, retired from racing in 1980 and went on to become a biodynamic farmer, building up what became Britain's largest water buffalo herd. He moved to England with his wife, Clare, in 1996 and bought Laverstoke Park in Overton, Hampshire, investing £55m into the estate and around 3,000 acres of surrounding land. The venture supplied organic meat to the retailer Ocado and specialised in buffalo mozzarella. It closed in 2024, with the business citing rising costs, falling milk volumes and the additional capital investment needed to secure its future.

The ruling closes a tax dispute that ran alongside separate financial difficulties at the farm, which ceased trading in 2024. Scheckter remains liable for the £1,457,634 bill, covering tax years dating back to 2008. The case underlines the conditions attached to sideways loss relief, which requires farms to turn a profit within five years to qualify. Laverstoke Farm Produce never met that threshold during its years of operation.