The decisions in BAA Ltd v HMRC [2013] EWCA Civ 112 and Airtours Holidays Transport Ltd v HMRC [2014] EWCA Civ 1033 have some notable parallels.
Both are decisions of the Court of Appeal and concern recovery of input tax arising from the operation of a large corporate entity: an acquisition in BAA and a refinancing operation in Airtours.
Additionally in both cases the higher appellate courts reversed the decision of the First-tier Tribunal (FTT); and in Airtours the apparent judicial uncertainty led to a split decision. Back in 2013 Lord Justice Mummery in BAA had been moved to note: ‘the application of the law in this specialised area is somewhat unpredictable. It may take years...
