Establishing hardship

07 April 2005 / Jolyon Maugham

Issue: 4002 / Categories: Comment & Analysis , VAT

JOLYON MAUGHAM, barrister at 11 New Square, sets out the principles governing hardship applications in the VAT tribunal.

OF THE MANY curiosities with which an adviser must wrestle in litigating an assessment to VAT, perhaps the oddest is the statutory requirement that the appellant stump up the disputed sum as the price of pursuing its appeal, unless it can show that to do so would cause it 'hardship'.

JOLYON MAUGHAM barrister at 11 New Square sets out the principles governing hardship applications in the VAT tribunal.

OF THE MANY curiosities with which an adviser must wrestle in litigating an assessment to VAT perhaps the oddest is the statutory requirement that the appellant stump up the disputed sum as the price of pursuing its appeal unless it can show that to do so would cause it 'hardship'.

The requirement which is not to be found in any other part of the tax appeals system is so badly drafted as to border on the meaningless is of opaque purpose and arguably contravenes EC law. What is more the question 'when is there hardship?' has never formed the subject of any decision at High Court level or above.

How against this background should one advise one's clients; how should one argue...

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