United Kingdom: Portsmouth City Council VAT Welfare Services Appeal Dismissed

• The First-tier Tribunal dismissed Portsmouth City Council’s appeals and upheld HMRC’s denial of VAT repayment claims totaling about £482,354 for 2017–2024.
• The dispute concerned whether the Council’s Home Improvement Agency services for elderly and disabled residents—helping with Disabled Facilities Grant applications and dealing with contractors for home adaptations—were exempt as “welfare services” under item 9, Group 7, Schedule 9 VATA 1994.
• The tribunal held that these Home Improvement Agency services were not exempt VAT welfare services, so the supplies remained taxable.

Source: bailii.org

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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