In Grattan plc v HMRC (No. 5) (CJEU Case C-310/11) a company (G) sold goods by mail order through agents to whom it paid commission. Initially it did not claim a deduction for this commission. However following the CJEU decision in Marks & Spencer plc v C & E Commrs (No. 4) [2002] STC 1036 it claimed a retrospective deduction backdated to April 1973. HMRC accepted that the effect of article 11C1 of the EC Sixth Directive was that G was entitled to such a deduction for the period from 1 January 1978 but rejected G’s claim for the period from 1973 to 1977 on the basis that neither the EC Second VAT Directive nor FA 1972 gave G the right to make such a deduction. The tribunal referred the case to the CJEU for a ruling on the interpretation of article 8...