Yorkshire Agricultural Society v HMRC

In Yorkshire Agricultural Society v HMRC [2023] UKFTT 389 (TC) (24 April 2023) the First-tier Tribunal (FTT) held that an HMRC assessment for underpaid output VAT on income from an agricultural show was out of time ruling that charges for admission to the show were VAT exempt fundraising.  

The appellant ran the annual Great Yorkshire Show one of the biggest agricultural events in England. In 2016 admission to the show was treated as subject to VAT. In 2017 income was treated as exempt and no VAT was charged.  

In May 2020 the society submitted a voluntary disclosure for the 2016 show. It contended that admission should have been treated as exempt (as it had been in 2017 – a fact confirmed in correspondence to HMRC in November 2020). The society calculated it was due a net VAT repayment of £200 000. 

The claim was rejected in May 2021 and...