Tax and the City Review for March 2019

The Court of Appeal in Farnborough Airport confirms that the appointment of a receiver triggers degrouping but decides that it does not have to consider whether the narrow interpretation of ‘control’ taken by the Upper Tribunal is correct. In Morrison Trustees, the Court of Appeal dismisses the taxpayers’ appeal, concluding that there cannot be a strict requirement for ‘arrangements’ for the final sale to have been made by the time of the first transaction, for Ramsay to apply. The Court of Appeal in Jimenez decides that HMRC has the power to serve information notices on a taxpayer resident abroad. In Blackrock the Upper Tribunal concludes that the provision of a technology platform can qualify as a substantive VAT exempt financial service (rather than as a standard rated supply of IT services), although a reference is being made to the CJEU on apportionment of the consideration.

This article was first published in the 8 March 2019 edition of Tax Journal.

tax-and-the-city-briefing-march-2019.pdf