Littlewoods Limited and others v Commissioners for Her Majesty’s Revenue and Customs
United Kingdom Supreme Court[2017] UKSC 701 Jan 2017· General
Littlewoods overpaid VAT between 1973-2004 by miscalculating commission paid in kind to agents. HMRC repaid £205m plus £268m statutory simple interest under s.78 VAT Act 1994. Littlewoods claimed an additional £1.25bn compound interest at common law. The Supreme Court held that common law compound interest was not available where statute prescribed simple interest, and that the six-year limitation period applied to common law claims.