Summary 

This was an appeal against the decision of HMRC to refuse the appellant’s claim for retrospective VAT bad debt relief (“BDR”) of £584,655 for the period 1 April 1989 to 19 March 1997. The relevant supplies made by the appellant during the claim period were security systems, products and services for domestic and commercial premises. 

Background 

HMRC rejected the claim on the basis that the appellant could not satisfy the evidential requirements for a valid claim for BDR contained in the Revenue and Customs Brief 1 (2017): VAT - historical bad debt relief claims” (“R&C Brief 1/2017”) as it could not demonstrate to HMRC that it was a valid claim for BDR and, in particular, that any claim to BDR for the cClaim pPeriod had not already been made. 

There was no real dispute between the parties as to the applicable law; the, the