Tower Bridge GP Ltd (appellant) v Her Majesty’s Revenue & Customs (respondent)

Tuesday 5th July 2022

This is a second appeal. By appellant’s notice filed on 9 April 2021, the Appellant taxpayer appeals, with the permission of Upper Tribunal Judges Mr Justice Fancourt and Judge Herrington, their decision of 12 February 2021, whereby they dismissed the Applicant’s appeal against the First-tier Tribunal’s decision of 5 March 2019.

The Appellant appealed against the First Tier Tribunal decision, which allowed in part their appeal against a number of decisions made by HMRC (i) to refuse to grant the Applicant the right to deduct input VAT incurred on purchases of carbon credits in certain VAT periods and (ii) to make assessments against the Applicant in respect of certain VAT periods in consequence of the denial of input tax for those periods. The company is a representative member of Cantor Fitzgerald Group VAT group (`CFG VAT Group’). Cantor Fitzgerald Europe Limited (`CFE’) was a broker in equities, equity derivatives, foreign exchange markets and contracts for differences. In March 2009, CFE began trading in carbon credit transactions that were connected to VAT fraud. The FTT found that the CFE should have known that its transactions were connected to VAT fraud from 15 June 2009.

View hearing:

Part 1 (external link)

Part 2 (external link)