Rank's £59m tax refund faces Appeal Court challenge

Rank Group’s £59m tax rebate from the UK authorities is being challenged in the Court of Appeal.

As reported on EGRmagazine.com, Rank Group’s claim for £59.1m in overpaid tax was upheld by the High Court last month.

However Her Majesty’s Revenue & Customs (HMRC) was given until 29 June to submit appeal last month’s High Court decision upholding the decision on the Value-Added Tax (VAT) in the Court of Appeal. HMRC has appealed, but no date has yet been set for the hearing.

This will be the second time HMRC has attempted to overturn the decision to return the VAT Rank paid on games of interval bingo and gaming machines in its Mecca Bingo clubs over a five-year period from January 2003.

The HMRC failed to overturn the original decision of the VAT & Duties Tribunal in May and August last year to award Rank the rebate after the tribunal ruled the UK’s treatment of these in Rank’s clubs was inconsistent with European Union rules on fiscal neutrality.

Rank had anticipated that HMRC would need to lodge an appeal against last month’s decision by 29 June 2009, but the deadline was subsequently extended to 6 July 2009.

As reported on EGRmagazine.com, new research recently revealed that land-based bingo attendance was down 60% in 2006-08, and that high street giants Rank and Gala Coral have failed to convert their high street bingo dominance into online.