In the world of direct tax, the familiar Ramsay approach to interpretation has been applied to tax a disposal of shares by trustees as a single overarching transaction despite being split into stages. Meanwhile, in a VAT context, a sale and leaseback has been treated as separate transactions, so as to allow a clawback of VAT. Despite apparently jarring, both approaches are justified (and indeed necessary) in the contexts in which they arise, owing to the nature of the taxes to which the relevant decisions relate.
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In the world of direct tax, the familiar Ramsay approach to interpretation has been applied to tax a disposal of shares by trustees as a single overarching transaction despite being split into stages. Meanwhile, in a VAT context, a sale and leaseback has been treated as separate transactions, so as to allow a clawback of VAT. Despite apparently jarring, both approaches are justified (and indeed necessary) in the contexts in which they arise, owing to the nature of the taxes to which the relevant decisions relate.
If you are not a subscriber, subscribe now to read this content.
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