Boxmoor Construction v HMRC

In Boxmoor Construction v HMRC ([2014] UKFTT 833 – 21 August 2014) the FTT found that the demolition of a building which retained its façade did not qualify for zero rating.

Boxmoor had carried out works consisting in the removal of the entirety of an existing building with the exception of the front façade and the construction of a replacement dwelling incorporating that façade.

HMRC issued assessments on the basis that the services supplied by Boxmoor did not constitute the construction of a dwelling (VATA 1994 Sch 8 Group 5) and were therefore not zero rated. This was because item 2 note 16(a) excludes from zero rating the ‘conversion reconstruction or alteration of an existing building’. Note 18(a) however treats as a new building the demolition of an existing building save for the retention of a single façade as a condition...