In TW & Mrs SM Stevens v HMRC (TC01671 – 10 January) a married couple constructed a farmhouse in the Exmoor National Park. Somerset County Council granted planning permission subject to a proviso that the farmhouse ‘shall not be transferred let or in any way disposed of separately’ from the land. The couple reclaimed tax on the construction. HMRC rejected the claim on the basis that effect of the planning permission was that zero-rating was precluded by VATA 1994 Sch 8 Group 5 Note 2(c). The tribunal allowed the couple’s appeal against this decision. Judge Cornwell-Kelly held that the effect of Town and Country Planning Act 1990 s 4A was that the relevant planning authority was the Exmoor National Park Committee rather than Somerset County Council. The restriction which the County Council had sought to impose had no legal effect and the farmhouse...
