Speed Read: The First Tier Tribunal decision of Ultrapolymers Ltd (TC00324) seems to be the first of its kind looking into whether a taxpayer has satisfied the conditions to obtain automatic permission to opt to tax. The Tribunal decided that, in the absence of detailed information from Ultrapolymers, the input tax incurred prior to any option to tax was, on the balance of probabilities, de minimis and consequently HMRC's permission to opt to tax was not required. What is missing from the analysis is whether, when considering the partial exemption de minimis rules, a taxpayer can exclude the exempt input tax calculated from the apportionment of non-attributable (and non-property related) costs.
