Composer and impresario Lord (Andrew) Lloyd Webber and his wife have won a tax battle after failing in an attempt to buy two villas on a proposed complex in Barbados.
The couple agreed to buy two villas plus land in 2017, one on sale for nearly £10 million and one on sale for more than £7 million, a tribunal judge heard.
They agreed to pay deposits and spent more than £8 million in total but developers ran into difficulties and the villas were never built.
Lord Lloyd Webber and Lady (Madeleine) Lloyd Webber subsequently made claims for capital gains tax losses.
HM Revenue and Customs officials disallowed their claims but a judge has upheld appeals.
Judge John Brooks has outlined details of his decision in a ruling published online after analysing the case at a tax tribunal hearing in London.
The dispute had centred on whether the money the couple had spent after agreeing to pay deposits amounted to losses under capital gains tax rules even though the villas were never finished.
Lady Lloyd-Webber had given evidence and told the judge how she and Lord Lloyd-Webber had holidayed in Barbados for many years and wanted to buy a villa on the island as a holiday home.