Final reminder – VAT claims
The deadline for submitting VAT claims for overpaid output tax or input tax under-claimed before 1997will expire on 31 March 2009. The 2009 Finance Bill will include provisions confirming the announcement made in Budget 2008 including the 31 March 2009 deadline.
This opportunity follows the VAT case known as ‘Fleming’ which was decided early last year in the House of Lords. The case concerned the legal validity of the introduction of VAT capping deadlines in May 1997. In a landmark decision, the House of Lords found that a time-limit for submitting valid VAT claims had not been properly implemented at the time.
This case and the Government announcements provide an opportunity for businesses to re-examine the period from the introduction of VAT on 1 April 1973 through to 1 May 1997 and to resubmit valid VAT claims. Prior to May 1997 there was no concept of the ‘three year cap’.
This opportunity specifically relates to both
· output tax overpaid or overdeclared in accounting periods ending before 4 December 1996
· input tax in respect of which the entitlement to deduct arose in accounting periods ending before 1 May 1997.
The deadline for making these claims is 31 March 2009.