In News Corp UK & Ireland Ltd v HMRC, the Supreme Court decided that VAT zero-rating of newspapers did not extend beyond print newspapers to digital editions. This is a significant judgment, in which the Court weighed the ‘always speaking’ principle of UK statutory interpretation against the conflicting EU principle of interpreting VAT exemptions narrowly. Although the court held that, in this case, the always speaking principle had to be applied narrowly, given the constraints of EU law, it will be interesting to see whether the courts are willing to use this principle more liberally in a taxing context when the law is, arguably, no longer so constrained by EU law.
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In News Corp UK & Ireland Ltd v HMRC, the Supreme Court decided that VAT zero-rating of newspapers did not extend beyond print newspapers to digital editions. This is a significant judgment, in which the Court weighed the ‘always speaking’ principle of UK statutory interpretation against the conflicting EU principle of interpreting VAT exemptions narrowly. Although the court held that, in this case, the always speaking principle had to be applied narrowly, given the constraints of EU law, it will be interesting to see whether the courts are willing to use this principle more liberally in a taxing context when the law is, arguably, no longer so constrained by EU law.
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