In Northumbria Healthcare NHS Foundation Trust v HMRC [2022] UKUT 267 (7 October 2022) the Upper Tribunal (UT) decided that the trust was acting as a taxable person in providing car parking facilities and that not charging VAT would lead to a significant distortion of competition. The reasons for the decision were that the provision of the car parking facilities was not subject to a special legal regime and there would be a disadvantage to private operators if VAT was not charged.
There was no dispute that the trust is a public authority for the purposes of VATA 1994 s 41A. The issue was whether in relation to its provision of car parking facilities it met the two conditions of s 41A for treatment as a non-taxable person. For the trust to achieve the VAT treatment it was pursuing both conditions that had to be met. The...
