In SAS SVS La Martiniquaise v HMRC [2015] UKFTT 515 (5 October 2015) the FTT found that the time limit for the submission of refund claims under the EU Refund Scheme (EURS) was absolute. It therefore had no jurisdiction to force HMRC to accept late claims.
La Martiniquaise (LM) is a French company and is not registered as a taxable person in the UK for VAT purposes. It had made claims for earlier years to HMRC’s Overseas Repayment Unit (ORU) for the repayment of VAT as a person in business in an overseas member state.
In March 2013 LM made two claims for refund in respect of the period 01/12 to 12/12. The ORU rejected these claims in a letter dated 16 July 2013 on the ground that LM was now making taxable supplies in the UK and was therefore no longer eligible for a...
