In HMRC v The Prudential Assurance Company Ltd [2023] UKUT 54 (TCC) (6 March 2023) the Upper Tribunal (UT) held that services rendered whilst a company was a member of a VAT group but invoiced and paid after it had ceased to be a member were liable to VAT.
Prudential received investment management services from a separate company called Silverfleet Capital Ltd (SCL) whilst both companies were a member of the same VAT group. SCL subsequently left the VAT group and ceased providing these services. However SCL had not issued an invoice or received payment for services provided until after it left the group due to the long-term nature of the underlying investment agreements.
HMRC considered that a continuous supply of services was being made and the tax point was created when the invoice was issued which was after SCL left the VAT group. Therefore the supply...