Leyton Sixth Form College v HMRC

In Leyton Sixth Form College v HMRC (C03042 – 13 November 2013) the issue was whether a new building built on a college campus and attached to an existing building was an annex. If it was an annex construction services received in relation to the building were zero rated if the new building was only an ‘enlargement’ or ‘extension’ the construction services were standard-rated (VATA 1994 Sch 8 Group 5 item 2).

The tribunal held that the new building was an annex having made the following observations: the two buildings were not physically separate as they shared a wall. Furthermore the new building was substantially larger than the original building and so was not ‘supplementary’; although there were differences in appearance both externally and internally between the two buildings they were not sufficient to make the new building an annex. They simply suggested...