In November 2016, an aircraft was flown from Bulgaria to Wales, where Caerdav Ltd carried out maintenance work, and then on to Ireland and ultimately to the United States. Caerdav had previously imported aircraft for maintenance under an end use authorisation (EUA), relieving the imposition of duty, but it had allowed its authorisation to lapse. .. Caerdav appealed, arguing, as an alternative to EUA, that inward processing relief (IPR) applied. However, IPR depended on the export from Bulgaria being categorised as indirect (via the UK and Ireland) rather than direct. The First-tier Tribunal (FTT) ruled that the export was direct, and that there was accordingly no entitlement to IPR. The Upper Tribunal has now confirmed the FTT’s decision.
Source: Deloitte
