Nicholas John Aspinal and others v HMRC

In Nicholas John Aspinal and others v HMRC [2015] UKFTT 162 (22 April) the FTT found that it had no jurisdiction to consider legitimate expectation.

The appellants had made supplies to a university which they had treated as exempt. HMRC considered that VAT should have been charged. The appellants conceded that the supplies could not have been exempt as they had not been made by an eligible body. However the appellants’ case was that Mr Aspinal had been informed by an HMRC officer that the supply was exempt as it was in respect of medical research. This was wrong. They therefore claimed that they had a legitimate expectation that the supply would be treated as exempt.

The FTT observed that it does have the authority to consider legitimate expectation in some cases where HMRC has lawfully exercised its powers such as Oxfam [2009] EWHC 2078....