Vodafone loses £2.2bn tax appeal battle

Vodafone has lost its fight to appeal against a court ruling that it is liable for £2.2bn in tax.

The Supreme Court said Vodafone’s application to appeal “did not raise an arguable point of law of general public importance”. This follows a Court of Appeal ruling earlier this year that overturned an initial ruling that the mobile giant would not have to pay corporation tax on a holding company owned in Luxembourg.

Vodafone had argued that its subsidiary, set up following the acquisition of Mannesman in 2000, should not have to pay UK corporation tax as UK rules on taxation of profits on Controlled Foreign Companies were incompatible with EU law.

Further reading:

Vodafone loses UK tax avoidance case

Vodafone ruling prolongs CFC confusion