Market leading insight for tax experts
View online issue

Totel v HMRC

VAT prepayments and the EU principle of equivalence

In Totel v HMRC [2016] EWCA Civ 1310 (20 December 2016) the Court of Appeal found that the UK VAT prepayment rules did not infringe the EU principle of equivalence.

Totel was liable to pay nearly £1.5m of VAT which HMRC considered it had wrongly treated as input tax in its VAT returns and it had appealed against HMRC’s determination. Totel contended that the prepayment rule (under which it had to pay the contested VAT before appealing) infringed the EU equivalence principle as described by Lord Hope in Test Claimants in the FII Group Litigation v HMRC [2012] 2 AC 337: ‘The principle of equivalence requires that the rules regulating the right to recover taxes levied in breach of EU law must be no less favourable than those governing similar domestic actions.’

The Court of Appeal first observed that...

If you or your firm subscribes to Taxjournal.com, please click the login box below:

If you do not subscribe but are a registered user, please enter your details in the following boxes:

Alternatively, you can register free of charge to read a limited amount of subscriber content per month.
Once you have registered, you will receive an email directing you back to read this article in full.
Please reach out to customer services at +44 (0) 330 161 1234 or 'customer.services@lexisnexis.co.uk' for further assistance.
EDITOR'S PICKstar
Top