- Vistry Homes Ltd entered into development agreements with housing associations for the construction of houses
- Vistry Homes believed that the transfer of land to the housing associations should be treated as a single supply with its construction services and be zero-rated for VAT purposes
- In 2018, HMRC concluded that Vistry Homes was separately supplying zero-rated construction services and exempt land
- Vistry Homes appealed this decision but withdrew its appeal before it was heard by the First-tier Tribunal
- HMRC then assessed Vistry Homes for input tax recovered on land purchases in 2018 and 2019, and Vistry Homes appealed those assessments
- HMRC applied to strike out the second appeal, arguing that Vistry Homes’ withdrawal from the first appeal established that it was not making “golden brick” supplies
- The First-tier Tribunal rejected HMRC’s application, stating that the first appeal was only going to deal with one specific agreement and that the question of whether other agreements qualified for “golden brick” treatment would require a detailed consideration of their terms and commercial reality
- The Tribunal decided that Vistry Homes was not barred from appealing the assessments by cause of action estoppel, issue estoppel, or abuse of process.
Source: taxscape.deloitte.com
Note that this post was (partially) written with the help of AI. It is always useful to review the original source material, and where needed to obtain (local) advice from a specialist.
