Indirect Tax Update for week ending 30 August 2013
The Court of Justice of the European Union and the
UK's higher Courts continue with their summer vacations but the
First-tier Tax Tribunal has been busy with a few decisions. The
University of Cambridge decision being the highlight this
week.
The First-tier Tax Tribunal has issued its decision in the above
case. The University has a substantial endowment fund and sought to
reclaim input tax incurred on fees charged in connection with the
management of the fund. HMRC tried to argue that the investment
activities of the fund were non-business activities and that, as a
result, the VAT could not be reclaimed. However, the University
argued that, following the CJEU's earlier judgments in both Kretztechnik and Securenta and the UK's High Court judgment
in Church of England Children's Society, the
costs incurred were overheads of the University. As such, the
University considered that it was
