Airtours Holidays Transport Ltd v Revenue and Customs: CA 24 Jul 2014

The Court was asked whether Airtours was entitled to recover (as input tax) value added tax charged by PricewaterhouseCoopers LLP in respect of certain services provided by PwC and for which the appellant paid. The issue turned upon whether, for VAT purposes, PwC ‘supplied’ services to the appellant. The services were provided in the context of a large-scale restructuring of the appellant, at a time when its business was in financial crisis.
Held: (Majority) The issue turned on the interpretation of the Contract. In agreement with the Upper Tribunal, Moore-Bick and Vos LJJ held that the effect of the Contract was that PwC’s services were provided to the Engaging Institutions, and not to Airtours.
Dissenting, Gloster LJ concluded that ‘as a matter of construction of the Contract, and on analysis of the economic realities of the surrounding commercial arrangements, the appellant had a contractual right to require that the Services as described in the [Letter]’ were provided.

Moore-Bick, Gloster, Vos LJJ
[2014] EWCA Civ 1033, [2014] STI 2521, [2014] BVC 32, [2015] STC 61
Bailii
England and Wales
Citing:
At FTTTxAirtours Holiday Transport Ltd v Revenue and Customs FTTTx 2-Oct-2009
VAT – deduction of input tax – did the paying party receive a supply – yes – appeal allowed.
All that was required to establish its case was that it had ‘obtained anything at all that was used for the purpose of his business’ and ‘a supply of a . .
At UTTCHM Revenue and Customs v Airtours Holidays Transport Ltd UTTC 8-Nov-2010
UTTC INPUT TAX – tripartite agreement entered into by the Respondent, a number of financial institutions and PricewaterhouseCoopers whose fee was to be paid for by the Respondent-whether input tax of the . .

Cited by:
AT CAAirtours Holidays Transport Ltd v Revenue and Customs SC 11-May-2016
The court was asked whether the appellant, Airtours Holidays Transport Ltd (formerly MyTravel Group plc), was entitled to recover, by way of input tax VAT charged by PricewaterhouseCoopers LLP in respect of services provided by PwC and paid for by . .

Lists of cited by and citing cases may be incomplete.

VAT

Updated: 17 December 2021; Ref: scu.535251