News Corp v HMRC: The digital issue

The Supreme Court (SC) has now handed down its judgment in the case of News Corp UK and Ireland v CRC [2023] UKSC 7 (tinyurl.com/NewsCorpSC) finding for HMRC and bringing to a close the hopes of News Corp UK and Ireland (News Corp) of receiving a VAT refund worth more than £35m.

News Corp had argued that the zero rating which applies to print editions of newspapers should be extended to digital editions sold in the period between 30 August 2010 and 4 December 2016. Although News Corp has now lost after several years of ping-pong litigation its case did not seem hopeless owing to its victory at the Upper Tribunal (subsequently overturned by the Court of Appeal).

In fairness few readers will have been waiting with bated breath for the outcome of this case not least because the relevant legislation...