No reasonable chance of success

The taxpayer provided advertising services which were standard rated when supplied to a UK business but outside the scope of VAT when charged to a non-UK business - the place of supply in such cases has always been where the overseas customer is resident under the general business-to-business rule.

The taxpayer had been involved previously with an appeal against the VAT liability of services provided between 1998 and 2002 to a UK company - Wilmslow plc – but invoiced through a Gibraltar based company called Karacus Ltd (TC7990). The First-tier Tribunal had rejected the appeal but the taxpayer tried to reopen it based on more recent decisions which appeared to support its argument. HMRC asked for the appeal to be struck out on the basis that there was no reasonable prospect of the case or part of it succeeding.

A VAT scheme...