Moving the goalposts … again

In June 2015 I wrote an article in Taxation headed ‘Moving the goalposts’. The headline was a reference to my shock at the fact that HMRC had discreetly changed its policy on claiming pre-registration input tax requiring future claims made by a business to take account of depreciation wear and tear and obsolescence. This produced a much lower claim compared to the cost price basis that had prevailed since at least 1983 when I started my VAT career.

I commented at the time that if an enthusiastic VAT anorak like myself didn’t spot the change in HMRC’s manuals for eight months the department must have kept it under wraps in the same way that a football manager keeps a tight lip if the team’s star striker has a drunken night out before a big game.

HMRC swiftly backpedalled on its ‘depreciate the assets’...