.png)
.png)
Possibility of unjust enrichment follows West Bridport ruling
HMRC have tempered private member golf clubs’ hope of large VAT windfalls, after the department announced it looking into the likelihood of unjust enrichment.
Clubs had been hopeful of VAT repayments after West Bridport and Dorset Golf Club (C-495/12), in which the Court of Justice of the European Union rejected the Revenue’s view that VAT exemption should not apply to non-member fees.
Many clubs have since made historic rebate claims to protect the four-year error correction period.
But the possibility of unjust enrichment means claims could be rejected if the taxman decides the overcharge of VAT was paid by customers rather than the supplier and needs to be repaid to the customers – the non-members in this instance.
Unjust enrichment usually takes effect when a supplier has added VAT to a selling price rather than absorbed it within a VAT-inclusive price.
HMRC have not made an announcement about the liability of past or future supplies of green fees made by clubs – which will depend on the outcome of deliberations on unjust enrichment.
