FTT: Allegion (UK) Ltd – Bad debt relief

VAT – Bad debt relief – s 11 FA 1990 & s 36 VATA 1994 – historical claim

INTRODUCTION

1. On 14 January 2021, the Appellant appealed to the Tribunal against the decision of the Respondents (“HMRC”) to refuse the Appellant’s claim for retrospective VAT bad debt relief (“BDR”) for the period 1 April 1989 to 19 March 1997 (“the Claim Period”). The original claim was for the amount of £615,697 (plus statutory interest) which was reduced to £584,655. The reduction was to reflect the estimated sales percentage for a division of the Appellant’s group of companies called NT Access Limited that provided services and was ineligible for inclusion in the claim for BDR. The relevant supplies made by the Appellant during the Claim Period were of security systems, products and services for domestic and commercial premises.

2. HMRC rejected the claim on the basis that the Appellant could not satisfy the evidential requirements for a valid claim for BDR contained in the Revenue and Customs Brief 1 (2017): VAT – historical bad debt relief claims” (“R&C Brief 1/2017”) as it could not demonstrate to HMRC that it was a valid claim for BDR and, in particular, that any claim to BDR for the Claim Period had not already been made.

Source: bailii.org

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