HMRC v Chelmsford City Council

In HMRC v Chelmsford City Council [2022] UKUT 149 (TCC) (15 June 2022) the Upper Tribunal (UT) decided that when providing sports and leisure facilities Chelmsford City Council (Chelmsford) was acting as a local authority rather than supplying the facilities as a business activity.

The main reason for the decision is that in providing the facilities Chelmsford was subject to legal obligations which do not apply to other operators as Chelmsford was obliged to consider how sports and leisure facilities can promote social inclusion and help reduce crime and vandalism. The UT found that relevant conditions of national law for example the Crime and Disorder Act 1998 and the Local Government Act 2000 affected Chelmsford’s decision making on where to whom and at what cost it provided sports and leisure facilities.

The UT considered article 13 of the Principle VAT Directive...

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