Prestige Transport Solutions Limited v The Commissioners for HMRC
| Judge | TRIBUNAL MEMBER TERENCE BAYLISS |
| Judgment Date | 28 April 2025 |
| Neutral Citation | [2025] UKFTT 463 (TC) |
| Year | 2025 |
| Court | First-tier Tribunal (Tax Chamber) |
| Counsel | Ms Vicary,Mr Bedenham Kc,For |
| Date | 28 April 2025 |
Neutral Citation: [2025] UKFTT 00463 (TC)
Case Number: TC09500
FIRST-TIER TRIBUNAL
TAX CHAMBER
Birmingham Tribunal Centre
Appeal reference: TC/2013/04362
TC/2013/04363
TC/2014/00160
TC/2014/01768
TC/2014/03685
EXCISE DUTY – whether appellant holding goods in warehouse – whether earlier holder
established– whether behaviour leading to penalty deliberate andconcealed– appeal
upheld in part
Heard on: 17-18 June 2024
Judgment date: 28 April 2025
Before
TRIBUNAL JUDGE ANNE FAIRPO
TRIBUNAL MEMBER TERENCE BAYLISS
Between
PRESTIGE TRANSPORT SOLUTIONS LIMITED
Appellant
and
THE COMMISSIONERS FOR HIS MAJESTY’S REVENUE AND CUSTOMS
Respondents
Representation:
For the Appellant:Mr Bedenham KC, of counsel
For the Respondents: Ms Vicary, of counsel, instructed by the General Counsel and
Solicitor to HM Revenue and Customs
DECISION
Background
1.The appellant company (PTS) is based in the West Midlands, with a business which
encompasses transport, storage and distribution. This appeal relates to the storage aspect of
the business.
2.PTS appeals against decisions issued by HMRC in respect of excise duty and a related
penalty, as follows:
(1)an excise duty assessment issued on 19 September 2012 as reduced by a review
notified on 4 April 2013 to £56,875 (‘First Assessment’), appealed on 26 June 2013
(2)an excise duty assessment in the amount of £747,331 issued on 10 June 2013
(‘Second Assessment’), also appealed on 26 June 2013
(3)an excise duty assessment in the amount of £83,010 issued on 29 October 2013
(‘Third Assessment’) reviewed on 6 January 2014, appealed on 1 January 2014
(4)an excise duty assessment in the amount of £232,355 issued on 4 November 2013
(‘Fourth Assessment’) reviewed on 23 January 2014, appealed on 3 July 2014
(5)a penalty in the amount of £56,875 issued on 26 June 2013 (‘Penalty
Assessment’) and reviewed on 6 March 2014, appealed on 31 March 2014
3.Although some of the appeals were made late, any dispute as to lateness had been
resolved before this hearing.
Administrative matters
4.The parties each made an application:
(1)the appellant, to rely on an argument in their skeleton which was stated to have
been foreshadowed in their grounds of appeal;
(2)HMRC, to admit two further witness statements which were produced in response
to the appellant’s application and proposed argument.
5.The panel considered the applications and agreed that both should be granted on the
basis that sufficient notice had been given of the points in the appellant’s application and that
HMRC should be able to reply thereto.
Relevant law
6.Regulation 10(1) of the Excise Goods (Holding, Movement and Duty Point)
Regulations 20103 (“2010 Regulations”) provides that:
“Theperson liable to pay the duty when excise goods are released for
consumption by virtue of regulation 6(1)(b) (holding of excise goods outside
a duty suspension arrangement) is the person holding the excise goods at that
time”.
7.s16(5) Finance Act 1994 provides that this Tribunal may “quash or vary any decision
and … substitute [its] own decision for any decision quashed on appeal” in respect of excise
duty assessments of this nature.
Case law as to ‘holding’
8.In Case C-279/19 HMRC v WR (known asPerfectin the UK courts), the CJEU held
that “holding” for the purposes of excise duty should be given its usual meaning:
1
Get this document and AI-powered insights with a free trial of vLex and Vincent AI
Get Started for FreeStart Your 3-day Free Trial of vLex and Vincent AI, Your Precision-Engineered Legal Assistant
-
Access comprehensive legal content with no limitations across vLex's unparalleled global legal database
-
Build stronger arguments with verified citations and CERT citator that tracks case history and precedential strength
-
Transform your legal research from hours to minutes with Vincent AI's intelligent search and analysis capabilities
-
Elevate your practice by focusing your expertise where it matters most while Vincent handles the heavy lifting
Start Your 3-day Free Trial of vLex and Vincent AI, Your Precision-Engineered Legal Assistant
-
Access comprehensive legal content with no limitations across vLex's unparalleled global legal database
-
Build stronger arguments with verified citations and CERT citator that tracks case history and precedential strength
-
Transform your legal research from hours to minutes with Vincent AI's intelligent search and analysis capabilities
-
Elevate your practice by focusing your expertise where it matters most while Vincent handles the heavy lifting
Start Your 3-day Free Trial of vLex and Vincent AI, Your Precision-Engineered Legal Assistant
-
Access comprehensive legal content with no limitations across vLex's unparalleled global legal database
-
Build stronger arguments with verified citations and CERT citator that tracks case history and precedential strength
-
Transform your legal research from hours to minutes with Vincent AI's intelligent search and analysis capabilities
-
Elevate your practice by focusing your expertise where it matters most while Vincent handles the heavy lifting
Start Your 3-day Free Trial of vLex and Vincent AI, Your Precision-Engineered Legal Assistant
-
Access comprehensive legal content with no limitations across vLex's unparalleled global legal database
-
Build stronger arguments with verified citations and CERT citator that tracks case history and precedential strength
-
Transform your legal research from hours to minutes with Vincent AI's intelligent search and analysis capabilities
-
Elevate your practice by focusing your expertise where it matters most while Vincent handles the heavy lifting
Start Your 3-day Free Trial of vLex and Vincent AI, Your Precision-Engineered Legal Assistant
-
Access comprehensive legal content with no limitations across vLex's unparalleled global legal database
-
Build stronger arguments with verified citations and CERT citator that tracks case history and precedential strength
-
Transform your legal research from hours to minutes with Vincent AI's intelligent search and analysis capabilities
-
Elevate your practice by focusing your expertise where it matters most while Vincent handles the heavy lifting