Court of Appeal Upholds HMRC’s Power to Deregister VAT Fraud Facilitators Under Ablessio Principle

• Court of Appeal dismissed Impact Contracting Solutions Ltd’s appeal
• Confirmed HMRC can deregister a company for VAT under the Ablessio principle
• Ablessio principle allows refusal of registration if VAT number is used fraudulently
• Appeal questioned if principle applies to deregister those facilitating fraud without direct involvement
• Two grounds of appeal: scope of Ablessio principle and impact on EU principles
• Court concluded HMRC can deregister if involvement in fraudulent transactions is known
• Deregistration must be a proportionate step and does not breach EU principles

Source: claritaxnews.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.