In Andrew Quay Hull LLP v HMRC [2024] UKFTT 842 (TC) (19 September) in the context of a dispute about VAT and penalty assessments that had culminated in an exit agreement following alternative dispute resolution (ADR) the First-tier Tribunal (FTT) allowed HMRC’s application for a direction to enforce the ADR exit agreement between HMRC and the appellant. Although the FTT accepted that the appellant had been under a misapprehension that the penalty would not be due because the ADR exit agreement stated that the VAT would not be payable this unilateral mistake was not an operative mistake and therefore did not affect the validity and binding nature of the agreement.
On 3 February 2020 the appellant and HMRC settled their dispute by entering into (and signing) an ADR exit agreement. That agreement specified that:
