VAT Cases & News

In Abbey Group Limited v HMRC [2026] TC10048, the First Tier Tribunal (FTT) found it lacked jurisdiction to determine a legitimate expectation claim against a VAT assessment. Even if it had, the FTT considered that the argument would have failed, as it was not unfair for HMRC to depart retrospectively from an officer's statement that had been relied on by the taxpayer, confirming recoverability of input tax.

In Its Plant-Tech Limited v HMRC [2026] TC10013, the First Tier Tribunal (FTT) found that a genuine belief that employees had been transferred to third-party entities was no substitute for evidence. Without proof of that transfer, input tax on invoices for wages and employers' National Insurance Contributions was not deductible.

In Minerva Research Labs Limited v HMRC [2026] TC10017, the First Tier Tribunal (FTT) found that anti-ageing liquid collagen products for human consumption were not 'food' for VAT purposes and should not be accounted for as a zero-rated product. 

In Chandra Bahadur KC v HMRC [2026] TC10014, the First Tier Tribunal (FTT) held that HMRC had correctly registered a takeaway business for VAT. It had been acquired as a going concern, so the value of taxable supplies for the year before the transfer could be taken into account in testing whether the VAT registration threshold had been exceeded. 

HMRC have published 'Revenue & Customs Brief 10 (2026): Temporary zero rate of VAT for domestic electricity in Great Britain’. It specifies how the temporary zero rate of VAT for qualifying supplies of electricity in Great Britain will operate.

HMRC have published 'Revenue & Customs Brief 8 (2026): UK VAT refunds for non-UK businesses in a VAT group'. It explains changes to how non-UK businesses in a VAT group should make future UK VAT refund claims, including transitional arrangements and how to ask HMRC to reconsider claims made since 1 January 2021 that have been refused.