Supreme Court appeal denied in BAA corporate acquisitions case

According to Deloitte, the application for leave to appeal to the Supreme Court by Airport Development and Investments Limited (ADIL), the company formed to take over the British Aviation Authority (BAA), has been refused. Deloitte reports that: ‘The Court of Appeal decided that ADIL was not able to recover VAT on the transaction costs after it joined the BAA VAT group following the takeover. This means that the Court of Appeal’s decision against ADIL stands as the final outcome in the case.

‘Businesses with disputes with HMRC over the treatment of input VAT incurred in the context of corporate acquisitions may now need to consider their position. However, the facts of the BAA/ADIL case were unusual, and this might make it harder for HMRC to base denials of input VAT on the Court of Appeal decision in other cases, where the fact pattern is different.’