VAT briefing for May 2018

The House of Commons Treasury Committee and Sub-Committee have launched a number of inquiries into the UK tax system, including significant aspects of the VAT system, tax avoidance and evasion and HMRC’s conduct of tax enquiries and disputes. In addition, the Court of Appeal has referred to the CJEU an important case on input VAT recovery where the proceeds of non-business investment activities are used to finance an economic activity, as well as remitting the Newey (t/a Ocean Finance) case back to the FTT. Finally, HMRC has published guidance on the interaction of the VAT system and land related joint ventures and a recent FTT decision highlights the pitfalls of the payment of deposits in the context of land related TOGCs.