One can almost hear the sound of rejoicing at the news that a judicial review action concerning VAT, and effective misdirection by HMRC, has met with success. It takes a brave litigant to embark on such a project, in which the prognosis is almost never good. But Vacation Rentals (UK) Ltd went to the Upper Tribunal ([2018] UKUT 383), in which Judges Fancourt and Herrington supported their case. Their bravery may yet prove unrewarded if HMRC appeals successfully, but we are up and running with a good result that will stiffen taxpayers’ resolve in similar cases.

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