Deloitte v HMRC

In Deloitte v HMRC [2016] UKFTT 479 (7 July 2016) the FTT decided not to admit an expert report covering contested legal issues as evidence.

Deloitte had applied for permission to admit expert evidence on the insurance industry practice and regulation of payment protection insurance (PPI) mis-selling. The issue in the substantive appeal was whether services which Deloitte provided to a loan provider in relation to PPI policies which the loan provider had sold fell within the exemption for relevant related services performed by insurance brokers and agents under VAT Directive 2006/112 art 135(1)(a) (implemented in the UK by VATA 1994 Sch 9 Group 2 item 4).

The expert evidence was a report by a chartered intermediary and a fellow of the Chartered Insurance Institute which in Deloitte’s submission explained the complex regulatory framework applicable to insurance contracts. HMRC argued that the report gave...