Supreme Court Rules NHS Hospital Car Parking Subject to VAT, Overturning Previous Judgments

• Northumbria Healthcare NHS Foundation Trust argued its hospital car parking was not subject to VAT, but HMRC disagreed.
• Lower tribunals sided with HMRC; the Court of Appeal sided with the Trust, citing a ‘special legal regime’.
• The Supreme Court overturned the Court of Appeal, ruling the Trust was not acting under a special legal regime as there was no legal obligation affecting its car parking activity.
• The Supreme Court also found that exempting the Trust from VAT would distort competition, as its car parks competed with private operators.
• HMRC’s appeal was allowed.

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.

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