Terry McCann v HMRC

In Terry McCann v HMRC (TC03017 – 23 October 2013) the taxpayer had hired a contractor to build a two storey beach house against a hillside. The upper floor was substantially smaller than the lower floor and the part of the lower floor not covered by the upper floor was covered by a terrace at the rear of which an outdoor swimming pool had been built. The issue was whether the pool was ‘part of’ or ‘incorporated in’ or ‘integral to’ the house. If it was then under VATA 1994 Sch 8 Group 5 items 2 and 4 the services consisting in the building of the pool were zero-rated.

It was accepted that if the pool had been built inside the house the services relating to its construction would have been zero-rated and that if the pool had been built separately from the house the...