Geoff and Diana Jones are a husband and wife who run a small IT consultancy in West Sussex. For the last six years they have been fighting with HM Revenue & Customs over their tax bills.

The battle has now reached the House of Lords, where HMRC are appealing against a previous Appeal Court ruling in favour of Mr and Mrs Jones.

The couple had attempted to minimise their tax bills by taking pay in dividends instead of salaries. A tax tribunal and the High Court ruled that this tax avoidance was unlawful, but Mr and Mrs Jones appeal was upheld.

Many small companies run by couples will be looking to the decision from the House of Lords to set a precedent, and should HMRC’s appeal be upheld they could be facing bills of up to £40,000.

The Professional Contractors Group have supported Geoff and Diana Jones, and helped them with the cost of their legal bills.