Adviser wins £260k VAT case against HMRC

Jason Butler [pictured], a partner at Bloomsbury Financial Planning, claimed an introductory service to fund managers provided to clients, which is not eligible for VAT, had instead been classified by HMRC as advice, a position later upheld by a tax tribunal. "Bloomsbury had accounted for VAT at the standard rate on its services which it now considered should have been exempt," the decision read. HMRC had said Butler was acting "in an intermediary capacity," and that while Bloomsbury was mandated to buy and sell units on behalf of its clients, "that was a small proportion of its servi...