Reed Employment Ltd v HMRC [2014] EWCA Civ 32
By Alice McDonald
Section 3 of the Finance Act (No.2) 2005 introduced an unjust enrichment defence against claims for repayment of VAT. This defence came into force on 26 May 2005. In 2009, and therefore following the introduction of section 3, the claimant filed repayment claims which had arisen in years before the defence came into force. HMRC relied upon the defence and refused to make repayments. The claimant challenged the application of the defence to the pre 2005 claims on the basis that the defence was incompatible with the EU law principle of equal treatment.
The Court of Appeal dismissed the appeal. It found that the defence introduced in section 3 did not breach EU law and that HMRC could rely upon it.
This article appears in the JHA January 2014 Tax Newsletter, which also features:
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