- Roscoe Noonan, a second-hand car dealer, was assessed for under-declared VAT by HMRC.
- HMRC used a “best judgment” assessment based on data from West Oxfordshire Motor Auctions (WOMA).
- Noonan argued that the assessment was too high due to lost records, inaccurate part-exchange estimates, and the potential use of the VAT margin scheme.
- The FTT accepted Noonan’s argument about part-exchange sales but rejected the other arguments.
- The FTT upheld HMRC’s “best judgment” assessment and found that Noonan could not use the VAT margin scheme due to insufficient record-keeping.
- The case highlights the importance of accurate record-keeping and the difficulty in challenging HMRC’s “best judgment” assessments without strong evidence.
- Sarabande Foundation (SF), a registered charity, sought to recover VAT input tax on a property acquisition and refurbishment.
Source: rpclegal.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.
