A taxpayer was unable to claim VAT input tax relief for a DIY housebuilding in respect of a mooring and houseboat.
The taxpayer obtained council permission to construct a houseboat on land and to create a steel structure on rails. A crane was used to place the constructed boat on to the water where it remains.
HMRC refused the application as the boat was not a building. The taxpayer argued that it was. It was constructed on land and could have remained there had the council permitted it. The boat could not be used as a vessel. It had all the facilities for a self-contained dwelling.
The tribunal found that the work did not come within the scope of a building.
The case report can be downloaded from http://financeandtax.decisions.tribunals.gov.uk//judgmentfiles/j11724/TC07766.pdf
Edward Burrell [2020] TC 7766 [20.07/10]