HMRC letter: National Car Parks

HMRC has issued a letter to the CIPFA VAT Committee (2 August 2017) regarding the Upper Tribunal judgment on National Car Parks.

The Upper Tribunal (UT) published its judgment in National Car Parks on 16 June 2017. The judgment confirmed that the whole amount car park users pay, via machines that do not give change, is consideration for parking, even where the amount paid exceeds the advertised tariff. The UT also concluded the First-Tier Tribunal 2012 decision in King’s Lynn Borough Council was wrongly decided.

This letter explains how HMRC plans to apply this judgment both in terms of future payments that exceed the advertised tariff (‘overpayments’) and for ‘overpayments’ not declared to or claimed back from HMRC since the King’s Lynn decision.