Great expectations

To start with one of the basic principles of VAT until a person is registered or required to be registered for VAT they cannot recover input tax on supplies received.

However under the VAT Regulations SI 1995 No 2518 Reg 111 VAT on the supply of goods and services can be treated ‘as if it were input tax’ and therefore recovered for a specified period before the date on which the person was registered or required to be registered. For goods the time limit was increased from three to four years from 1 April 2009 but for services the limit is only six months.

In the recent case of Noor v CRC [2011] UKFTT 349 (TC) the First-tier Tribunal accepted jurisdiction...