Ensure that a business is continued post-sale to treat its disposal as a TOGC for VAT purposes

A transaction that is treated as the transfer of a going concern (TOGC) is outside the scope of VAT, so there is no VAT on the consideration for the transaction. The transfer of property that consists of a letting business...

Care required in treating a business transfer with leases as a TOGC

A recent CJEU case from Romanian concerning the transfer of a restaurant premises where the transferee continued the restaurant business, may have relevance for the way TOGC’s (transfers of a going concern) are treated for VAT in the UK where...

Option to tax – when effective for a TOGC

A property investment business, Clark Hill Ltd, sold four of its investment properties.  It had raised VAT invoices in respect of all of them, but had not paid over the VAT, contending that in fact the TOGC provisions applied to...

Revenue and Customs Brief 11 regarding VAT and the Transfer of a Going Concern (TOGC) published by HMRC

HMRC policy previously stated that where a member of a VAT group acquires a business, and afterwards the only supplies are made to other members of that VAT group, the acquisition cannot be treated as a TOGC. The logic behind...

VAT – transfer of a business as a going concern – all tests must be met

An adverse decision of the Tax Tribunal leaves a company with an unexpected £1m VAT bill on the sale of its business.  The case is a salutary illustration of VAT complexity on what at first sight may appear to be...