Real cost of Bond House is £105m, says HMRC
HM Revenue & Customs gives its estimate of the cost of the claims
The real cost of the Bond House case is £105m, HM Revenue & Customs has
said.
A spokeswoman for the tax authorities has said that £105m ‘is the total at
most in all the cases awaiting the Bond House decision.’
There are about 150 cases, she added.
The case may cost the government more, in that it prevents the government
from using the non-economic activity argument to deny reclaims: ‘we won’t be
using the non-economic activity argument any longer,’ she said.
Meanwhile, some advisers have indicated that claimants could ask for higher
rates of interest from the government than are usual.
Paddy Behan of Grant Thornton said those who had lodged appeals might be able
to claim a commercial rate of interest on the back of a decision in the Olympia
Technology case: ‘I don’t find that many advisers are as alive to this as they
could be,’ said Behan.
There are also the prospect of damages claims against the Treasury as a
result of the decision, not least because some of the companies involved have
gone bust as result of the denial of VAT.