Birmingham Hippodrome Theatre Trust Ltd v HMRC

In Birmingham Hippodrome Theatre Trust Ltd v HMRC (TC00993 – 1 March) a company (B) which was a registered charity and operated a theatre had accounted for VAT on supplies which qualified for exemption as ‘cultural services’. In 2007 it submitted a claim for repayment covering the period from 1990 to 1996. HMRC rejected the claim on the grounds that for 2000 and 2001 B had reclaimed substantial input tax on the refurbishment of its theatre which should have been attributed to exempt supplies and that the effect of VATA 1994 s 81(3A) was that the previous underclaim of input tax should be set against the subsequent overclaim. The Tribunal accepted this contention and dismissed the appeal. (HMRC raised an alternative contention that the claim was ‘abusive’. The Tribunal rejected this contention distinguishing the ECJ decision in DEKA Getreideprodukte GmbH...