Managing investment

They now accept that fund management services supplied to investment trust companies are exempt and have withdrawn from the appeal. HMRC say that they 'remain of the view published in Revenue and Customs Brief 58/07 that the judgment does not apply to funds other than ITCs'.

The earlier European Court of Justice judgment in Abbey National plc v CCE (No 2); Inscape Investment Fund (Case C-169/04) [2006] STC 1136 ruled that the exemption for 'management' of funds covers not only investment management services but also certain administrative services if viewed broadly they form a distinct whole and are specific to and essential for the management of the fund.

HMRC published detailed guidance on this in Business Brief 7/06 (27 June 2006) but it should be noted that the Abbey judgment focused on authorised investment funds such as authorised unit trusts and open-ended...