British Telecommunications plc v HMRC

In British Telecommunications plc v HMRC [2023] UKUT 122 (TCC) (30 May 2023) the UT dismissed the appeal by BT in relation to its claim for VAT relief on bad debts. The UT decided in the light of the Court of Appeal (CA) decision in HMRC v British Telecommunications plc [2014] EWCA Civ 433 that there was no reasonable prospect of the claims for VAT relief on bad debts succeeding. The UT found that the FTT made no error of law in in relation to the appeal being struck out.  

The case concerns a claim for VAT relief on bad debts relating to periods before 31 March 1989. The background is that following the CA decision referred to above and discussed below BT provided a statement of the legal and factual issues that it considered remained to be resolved by the FTT. HMRC applied to the FTT for the...