The VAT review for July 2022

This month’s VAT review covers two recent FTT decisions. One, Haymarket, concerns the application of the VAT TOGC rules to a property development scenario, confirming that the sale of a property with planning permission will not normally amount to the transfer of a property development business. The other, Sofology, concerns the correct application of the direct and immediate link test for input VAT attribution to Google based advertising and contains interesting comment on the relevance of economic links. In addition, HMRC has released further guidance on the meaning of business in the VAT context which is of particular relevance to the charitable and not-for-profit sectors, and it has also confirmed the removal of the requirement for those supplying mobile phones and computer chips in the UK to complete reverse charge sales lists from 1 July 2022.