Brims Construction Ltd v HMRC

In Brims Construction Ltd v HMRC (TC02455 – 24 January) a company had purchased a school which was a Grade 2 listed building from a council with the intention of developing it. The school site included a separate building. The company arranged for a contractor (B) to convert this building into residential accommodation. B treated its supplies as zero-rated. HMRC issued an assessment charging tax on the basis that the work did not qualify for zero-rating since the relevant planning permission prohibited the separate use of the building and the work therefore failed to meet the conditions of VATA 1994 Sch 8 Group 6 Note 2(c). The First-tier Tribunal dismissed B’s appeal applying the Upper Tribunal decision in HMRC v Lunn [2010] STC 493. Judge King specifically disapproved the earlier decisions in Wendels v HMRC...