EMI Group plc v HMRC

VAT: Samples and gifts of small value

In EMI Group plc v HMRC (ECJ Case C-581/08) a music company distributed free copies of CDs for promotional purposes. It had accounted for VAT on these in accordance with VATA 1994 Sch 4 para 5. Subsequently it formed the view that the effect of Article 5(6) of the EC Sixth Directive was that it need not have accounted for VAT on these CDs. In 2003 it submitted a repayment claim for more than £1 600 000 backdated to 1987. HMRC rejected the claim on the grounds that VAT had been correctly charged on the CDs and that most of the claim was outside the three-year time limit laid down by VATA 1994 s 80(4). The company appealed. The tribunal reviewed the evidence in detail and directed that the case should be referred to the ECJ for rulings on...