HMRC Publishes Policy Paper on Interpretation of VAT and Excise Law in the UK

• HMRC has published a policy paper and draft legislation on the interpretation of VAT and excise law in the UK.
• The paper clarifies how VAT and excise legislation should be interpreted in light of changes made by the Retained EU Law (Revocation and Reform) Act 2023.
• The new legislation ensures that UK VAT and excise legislation continues to be interpreted as Parliament intended, drawing on rights and principles that currently apply in interpreting UK law.
• Without this measure, billions of pounds of exchequer revenue would be at risk.
• EY comments that the draft legislation allows courts to continue applying EU law principles when construing UK legislation.
• HMRC is consulting on the draft legislation until 17 November 2023.
• The Upper Tribunal decision in Impact Contracting Solutions Limited v HMRC highlights the importance of EU law principles in tackling VAT fraud.

Source: taxjournal.com

Note that this post was (partially) written with the help of AI. It is always useful to review the original source material, and where needed to obtain (local) advice from a specialist.

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