Unjust enrichment and Section 80(3) of the Value Added Tax Act 1994

In dealing with a claim for the recovery of overpaid VAT under Section 80 of the Value Added Tax Act 1994, Customs and Excise is entitled to raise the defense contained within Section 80(3). The defense sets out that repayment can be refused where it will result in the unjust enrichment of the taxab...

Full description

Saved in:
Bibliographic Details
Published in:British Tax Review 2004-11 (6), p.620
Main Author: Chowdry, Monica
Format: Article
Language:English
Subjects:
Common law
Tax legislation
Tax overpayment
Tax refunds
Value added
VAT
Online Access:Get full text
Tags: Add Tag
No Tags, Be the first to tag this record!
Description
Summary:In dealing with a claim for the recovery of overpaid VAT under Section 80 of the Value Added Tax Act 1994, Customs and Excise is entitled to raise the defense contained within Section 80(3). The defense sets out that repayment can be refused where it will result in the unjust enrichment of the taxable person. It has been doubted by both the courts and commentators that the defense has any relationship with the common law principle of unjust enrichment. Such doubts are challenged, and the hypothesis is explored that the wording could be meaningful in a common law sense and whether the common law can give any guidance on how the defense could operate better.
ISSN:0007-1870