Scottish Football League v HMRC

In Scottish Football League v HMRC (Upper Tribunal – 5 April) the Scottish Football League (SFL) had reached an agreement with Customs in 1966 that it would not reclaim input tax on the cost of medals which it purchased for presentation to the winners of its divisional championships and would not be required to account for output tax on the onward supply of the medals. However in 2010 the SFL submitted a repayment claim backdated to 2007 on the basis that it should be allowed to reclaim the input tax without being required to account for output tax. HMRC rejected the claim and the First-tier Tribunal dismissed the League’s appeal holding that the award of the medals was ‘a supply by way of a business gift in terms of VATA 1994’ and that ‘since output tax has not...