HMRC v Purple Telecom Ltd

In HMRC v Purple Telecom Ltd (Upper Tribunal – 31 January) a company (P) reclaimed substantial amounts of input tax in 2006. HMRC rejected the claim on the grounds that the transactions appeared to be connected to MTIC fraud. P appealed and after long delays the appeal was listed for hearing in February 2013. In December 2012 P applied for the hearing of its appeal to be adjourned on the grounds that its controlling director (W) was undergoing psychiatric treatment. The First-tier Tribunal granted the application but HMRC appealed to the Upper Tribunal which reversed this decision and directed that the substantive appeal should be set down for hearing. Proudman J observed that a report from an independent psychiatrist had contradicted some of the claims made by W’s own psychiatrist and had indicated that ‘although (W) does...