- A property management agency has lost a case at the High Court over VAT treatment of its supplies of accommodation.
- The agency, Realreed Limited, owned a block of flats and treated the supplies of accommodation as exempt from VAT.
- HMRC informed Realreed in 2019 that the supplies were taxable, not exempt.
- HMRC made assessments for unpaid VAT of £4.8 million for the period 02/15 to 01/19.
- Realreed appealed and brought judicial review proceedings, arguing that the decision was unreasonable and unfair.
- HMRC argued that the assessments were legitimate and that Realreed had no legitimate expectation of exempt treatment.
- The High Court reviewed the evidence and concluded that HMRC did not make any representation that could be relied upon by Realreed.
- The appeal was dismissed.
- Realreed has brought separate legal proceedings against HMRC for its failure to raise the issue in previous inspections.
- Realreed argues that HMRC’s conduct gave it a legitimate expectation of exempt treatment.
Source: propertyindustryeye.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.
