- Yourway Transport appealed HMRC’s reduction of its import VAT credits on clinical trial drugs imported for biopharma clients, disputing £4.3 million.
- The main issue was whether Yourway, as an agent and non-owner, could recover import VAT as input tax under section 47(1), VATA, by acting in its own name.
- The FTT ruled Yourway could recover import VAT on drugs sent to EU countries, as a deemed taxable supply arose under pre-Brexit law, but not for drugs remaining in the UK or exported outside the EU.
- The FTT rejected Yourway’s public-law argument based on legitimate expectation.
- The case highlights the importance for agents in international logistics to carefully structure contracts and VAT treatment to ensure eligibility for import VAT recovery.
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.
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