In Regent Commodities Ltd v HMRC (Upper Tribunal – 29 June) a company (R) reclaimed input tax of more than £2 000 000 relating to alleged transactions in mobile telephones and CPUs.
HMRC rejected the claim on the basis that the transactions formed part of a ‘missing trader intra-Community fraud’.
The First-tier Tribunal dismissed R’s appeal finding that R knew that the transactions were connected with fraud.
The Upper Tribunal upheld this decision as one of fact.
Why it matters: The First-tier Tribunal had found that the company had actual knowledge that the transactions were connected with MTIC fraud (not merely that it should have known this).
The Upper Tribunal had little difficulty in upholding this as a finding of fact.
