UK restricts VAT repayments

The UK’s Upper Tribunal tax appeals court has limited the rights of VAT payers to alter the basis of repayment claims.

The case concerned a January 2007 £4.2m claim by Vodafone for a repayment of overpaid output VAT on a Nectar reward card scheme-based overpayment. After an extended period, 2009-11, Vodafone identified additional errors stretching back to 2004, not related to the Nectar issue, in its refund application, and applied for them to be added to the original claim.

However, HMRC contended that the new adjustment were out of time and not related to the Nectar claim. The Upper Tribunal has now upheld this view on the basis that the new claims were unrelated to the Nectar application and were out of time.