BlackRock: software tools and the investment management VAT exemption

The First-tier Tribunal decision in BlackRock Investment Management sheds fresh light on the investment management VAT exemption by considering its application to an innovative digital investment management platform developed by BlackRock. The tribunal considered three criteria that must be satisfied for services to amount to investment management: the services must be specific to the management of special investment funds (SIFs) (i.e. funds within the scope of the exemption); they must be essential to the management of SIFs; and they must form a distinct whole. BlackRock’s platform could qualify for the exemption provided all these conditions were satisfied. The case also reaffirmed a constrained approach to apportioning consideration for a single supply between the taxable and non-taxable aspects of the supply.