‘OLYMPIA’ Tribunal Decision released

By Don Mavin, Head of Tax Disputes & Litigation at Vantis, the UK accounting, tax and business advisory and recovery group.

In an unusual departure from normal practice, and at the request of the parties, the First-Tier Tax Tribunal has now released, in draft form, its revised decision in the case of Olympia Technology Limited ‘Olympia’. The case had been partly referred back to the Tribunal by the High Court to enable the Tribunal to re-examine the ‘linear’ transaction chains (i.e. those not... (click on the headline to read the full article)

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VAT and Exports - Prove It or Lose It
Wednesday, 3 February 2010

Small items of high value have always represented a major problem for HM Revenue and Customs (HMRC), since they are the favoured means by which criminals commit a simple VAT fraud. In essence, the fraud works by producing evidence that goods have been purchased or imported (which leads to a recoverable VAT charge) and then exported (so they are zero-rated on sale).

The net effect is that the VAT incurred on purchase or import is recovered. Normally there is a chain of businesses involved and, at some... (click on the headline to read the full article)

OFFER OF SUPPORT IN VAT TRIBUNAL

Study of past decisions, reinforced by personal observations and participation in recent VAT Tribunals, has convinced Anthony Elliot-Square that traders have severely reduced their chances of success in Appeal because they have not effectively challenged HMRC’s so-called expert evidence.

We believe that the majority of HMRC claims can be disproved if adequate resources are devoted to collecting and analysing authoritative information which is then presented to the Tribunal .  Additionally we believe appropriate publicity rega... (click on the headline to read the full article)