The Queen on the application of The Durham Company v HMRC and the Local Government Association

In The Queen on the application of The Durham Company v HMRC and the Local Government Association [2016] UKUT 417 (22 September 2016) the UT found that supplies of waste collection services by local authorities to business customers could be outside the scope of VAT but that the issue had to be decided on a case by case basis.

This was an application for judicial review commenced in the Administrative Court and subsequently transferred to the UT concerning the lawfulness of the VAT treatment being afforded to local authorities carrying out certain trade waste collection and disposal services. The Durham Company (TDC) collected and disposed of trade waste and accounted for VAT on its supplies. TDC challenged HMRC’s view that the supplies by local authorities fell outside the scope of VAT.

The issue was whether a local authority (a waste collection authority under the Environmental Protection Act...