Powell t/a Anwick Agricultural Engineers
| Jurisdiction | UK Non-devolved |
| Judgment Date | 15 October 1996 |
| Date | 15 October 1996 |
| Court | Value Added Tax Tribunal |
VAT Tribunal
The following cases were referred to in the decision:
C & E Commrs v Sutton Housing Trust VAT(1984) 2 BVC 200,036
Evans VAT(MAN/88/587) No. 4415; (1989) 4 BVC 1443
Levell VAT(LON/89/896) No. 6202; [1991] BVC 774
Mann VAT(LON/95/2066) No. 14,004; [1996] BVC 4273
Morfee VAT(LON/94/725) No. 13,816; [1996] BVC 2635
Wrencon Ltd VAT(LON/95/264) No. 13,968; [1996] BVC 2736
Zero-rating - Protected building - Listed church with separately listed wall in churchyard - Construction of new railings around churchyard - Whether work capable of amounting to "approved alteration" - Whether work of repair or maintenance - schedule 5 group 8AValue Added Tax Act 1983, Sch. 5, Grp. 8A, item 2 and Note (1), (3) and (6) (Value Added Tax Act 1994 schedule 8 group 6Value Added Tax Act 1994, Sch. 8, Grp. 6, item 2 and Note (1), (3), (6) and (9)); Planning (Listed Buildings and Conservation Areas) Act 1990, s. 1(5).
The issue was whether work carried out in erecting new railings in the churchyard of a listed church amounted to "an approved alteration" of a protected building and therefore zero-rated.
St Mary's Church, Walton-on-the-Hill, was the original parish church of Liverpool. It was a listed building in the curtilage of which was a graveyard bounded partly by an old stone wall which was one of a number of buildings in the churchyard listed in their own right. Footpaths led to the church and across the churchyard. During the war the churchyard railings had been removed and the churchyard had since become a haven for vagrants, drinkers and drug users. In 1993, following a notorious murder in the area, the PCC decided to replace the railings to exclude undesirables. On 11 May 1993 the city of Liverpool Planning Department granted planning permission and listed building consent "to erect steel and cast iron railings and gates to the churchyard".
The appellant was invited to tender for the work and was chosen to execute it. The railings were constructed on site and installed between 11 June 1993 and 22 June 1994 at a total cost of £31,750. When the work was completed they enclosed the perimeter of the churchyard, and along the length where it was bounded by the wall they were affixed to the wall. Elsewhere, as well as marking the perimeter of the churchyard they were erected along both sides of the paths. At no point did they touch the church itself.
By letter dated 9 February 1996 the commissioners ruled that the work, which had been treated by the appellant as zero-rated, was standard-rated and accordingly issued an assessment.
The appellant contended that, following the definition of "approved alteration" in Note (3) to Grp. 8A as "any works of alteration", and given that it was accepted by both parties that the church itself was a protected building within the definition in Note (1), there had been an alteration of the church, which was to be taken as including the graveyard and churchyard. The creation of the railings were of a scale and magnitude which "altered" the church, adopting a visual approach derived from planning legislation rather than a narrow definition confining "alteration" to the fabric of the building. Alternatively, in accordance with s. 1(3) of the Planning (Listed Buildings and Conservation Areas) Act 1990, the church wall was included in the definition of the protected building as "a structure within the curtilage of the building … which formed part of the land", so that the work carried out to the wall was deemed to be carried out to the protected building.
The commissioners contended that to achieve zero-rating an alteration had to be to the fabric of a building and since at no point did the railings touch the structure of the church it could not be said that there had been an alteration. Further, the erection...
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