The High Court has released its judgment in a recent case brought by GSTS Pathology LLP and others, against HMRC’s decision to change the VAT treatment of out-sourced pathology services. GSTS is a public-private joint venture between Serco Ltd and two NHS Trusts, which was established to supply out-sourced pathology services to the NHS. HMRC [...]
Following the judgment of the House of Lords in the joined cases of Fleming/Condé Nast in 2008, many NHS Trusts submitted VAT claims to HMRC for input VAT which had been under-recovered, or output VAT which had been over-declared, in prior accounting periods. Some types of claim have been accepted by HMRC, such as those [...]
NHS organisations should also be aware that the VAT exemption for business supplies of research to other ‘eligible bodies’ (such as universities and charities) will be withdrawn from 1st August 2013. The decision follows a notification from the European Commission that the exemption does not comply with European law. Currently, business supplies of research between [...]
HMRC has just released revised guidance on COS heading 37, which supersedes guidance that it had previously issued to NHS organisations in May 2012. This previous guidance stated that VAT could only be recovered on the supply of maintenance services for leased equipment if this maintenance was provided by a separate supplier to the one [...]
The First Tier Tax Tribunal (‘FTTT’) has recently held that where a customer over-pays for parking, the excess amount paid is to be treated as an ex-gratia payment, not subject to VAT. This offers the opportunity for NHS Trusts to make a protective VAT reclaim where they have accounted for output VAT on over-payments received [...]
In our last newsletter, we advised that the scope of VAT recovery under this COS heading is likely to be changing. It has always been common practice for NHS bodies to recover VAT on supplies of admin and clerical agency staff under COS heading 69. We now understand that HMRC plan to revise this interpretation [...]
Many NHS bodies are currently undergoing a compliance check from HMRC on VAT recovered under COS heading 37. This is a follow-up to the previous letter from HMRC of May 2012 concerning VAT recovery under COS heading 37 and whether this is in relation to leased equipment and if so, whether it is by the [...]
The VAT liability of self-storage has changed with effect from 1 October 2012. Under the previous rules, the provision of a clearly defined space for the self-storage of goods was VAT exempt (as a supply of land) unless the self-storage operator had ‘opt to tax’ the land/building. Providers of other types of storage services (such [...]
We have learnt that the scope of VAT recovery under this COS heading is likely to be changing. It has always been common practice for NHS bodies to recover VAT on supplies (from staff agencies) of admin and clerical staff under COS heading 69. Up until around 2007, it was in fact common practice for [...]
As stated in an earlier newsletter, HMRC have been considering their policy concerning the interaction of the NHS COS VAT rules (in particular, COS heading 26; Hire of vehicles including repair & maintenance), and the 50% blocking order VAT restriction on lease cars (applicable to the car lease but not the maintenance). This review is [...]