The Charity Tribunal has refused permission to the corporate trustee of the Cup Trust, a charitable tax avoidance vehicle, to appeal the appointment of an interim manager to the Upper Tribunal.

The Cup Trust raised £176.5m from donors and claimed £46m in tax relief over a two-year period, but gave only £55,000 to good causes. The Charity Commission opened an investigation into the charity in May last year and appointed Jonathan Burchfield, a partner at law firm Stone King, as an interim manager to run the charity.

Mountstar PTC, the sole corporate trustee of the Cup Trust, appealed against the Commission's decision to appoint an interim manager, but its appeal was struck down in October. On 14 November last year Mountstar sought permission to appeal that decision to the Upper Tribunal.

To succeed in an appeal Mounstar would have to show an error of law. But in a ruling on 24 December the Tribunal ruled that there was no such error and refused leave to appeal.

The ruling from Judge Gerald said: “It cannot be said that the ultimate decision of the Tribunal erred in law in allowing the continued appointment of the interim manager or was otherwise erroneous.”

The ruling said Mountstar’s grounds of appeal were “characterised as errors of law” but were in fact “overwhelmingly concerned with the correctness of the judgment and findings of fact of the Tribunal on the evidence before it".

It said that even if there had been errors of law it would still have affirmed its previous decision.

“The Cup Trust’s and its charity trustee Mountstar’s accountability to donors, beneficiaries and the general public are sufficient to justify the continued appointment of the interim manager,” the ruling said.