- The H Ripley & Co Limited case involved the issue of whether the appellant had satisfactory evidence to support the zero rating of the export of goods.
- HMRC denied zero rating because the appellant did not provide satisfactory evidence that the scrap metal was removed from the UK.
- Acceptable documentary evidence for zero rating includes customer’s order, inter-company correspondence, sales invoice, advice note, packing list, commercial transport documents, insurance or freight charges, bank statements, receipted copy of the consignment note, signed CMR document, bill of lading, airfreight invoice, invoice from the carrier, official documents from a public authority, or any other relevant documents.
- HMRC requested information from the appellant in connection with the supplies, but concluded that the evidence provided was insufficient.
- The burden of proof is on the appellant to show that it has satisfied the conditions for zero rating and provide documentation to show that the goods were removed from the UK.
- The court noted that supplementary evidence can be provided after the three-month period, but HMRC can decline it if provided 18 to 30 months later.
- Notice 725 sets out the conditions for zero rating, and the onus is on the exporter company to gather sufficient evidence of removal within three months of the supply date.
- The court found that the sales invoices did not provide clear evidence of removal from the UK.
Source: marcusward.co
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.
