In National Car Parks v HMRC [2017] UKUT 247 (16 June 2017) the UT found that excess amounts paid by customers at pay and display car parks were consideration for VAT purposes.
National Car Parks (NCP) operates ‘pay and display’ car parks. In October 2014 NCP made a claim for repayment of overpaid VAT of £488 669 in respect of overpayments of car park tariffs by customers using NCP’s car parks but HMRC refused the claim on the ground that the overpayments represented consideration for the right to park.
The tribunal observed that consideration for the purposes of VAT does not bear the same meaning as it does for the purposes of English contract law. There was no need to analyse the supplies using English contract law concepts of offer and acceptance or consideration; and what was shown on the machine or written on the ticket was of...
