Barclays Fails Appeal on UK VAT Grouping and Fixed Establishment

Barclays lost its appeal in the Upper Tax Tribunal over whether its US company, Barclays Services Corporation, could join a UK VAT group.
The UT agreed with HMRC and the FTT that BSC did not have a UK fixed establishment because it lacked sufficient human and technical resources under its control.
The tribunal noted that UK staff were not employed by BSC, and BSC did not control the premises or systems enough to qualify.
The UT rejected the argument that UK VAT grouping rules should be read as territorially limited in this way.
On protection of the revenue, the UT suggested HMRC could reasonably have refused the application, though that point was not essential to the outcome.

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.