The Court of Appeal have given judgment in an appeal brought by the Royal Opera House concerning the recovery of VAT spent on its productions of opera and ballet (such as costumes, sets and guest performers). Matthew Donmall appeared on behalf of the Commissioners for Her Majesty’s Revenue and Customs, who argued that the commercial linkage between such production costs and the taxable sales of catering at the restaurants and bars of the Royal Opera House was insufficient to enable the deduction of the input tax. In a unanimous decision, the Court of Appeal agreed.

The judgment of the court [2021] EWCA Civ 910 can be found here.