Eynsham cricket club loses VAT bill appeal

Former PM David Cameron raised Eynsham Cricket Club's troubles with his chancellor George Osborne

A cricket club has had its appeal against paying VAT on its new pavilion dismissed by judges after a four-year legal battle.

Eynsham Cricket Club in Oxfordshire appealed a HM Revenue and Customs (HMRC) decision after it was forced to pay up to £37,000 in VAT.

An earlier tribunal ruled the club was "not entitled" to treat the pavilion construction as "zero-rated" VAT.

The club said the findings of the court were an "unfortunate outcome".

Mr Justice Nugee and Judge Timothy Herrington ruled the club, which is registered as a community amateur sports club, was "not established for charitable purposes and hence cannot be a charity".

Club chairman Ian Miller told the BBC the club had to pay the outstanding VAT prior to its appeal bid and paid the bill by "borrowing money from friends and members".

Mr Miller said because the club now owed money to several people, it could not "plan for the future".

'Don't have money'

"Over the next 10 years we have to pay those people back," he added.

"My main worry is we have grounds equipment which is 20 and 30 years old and if anything goes wrong we do not have the money."

The club's previous clubhouse was destroyed by fire in a "suspected arson attack" in February 2012, but a new one was built after an "extensive fundraising effort".

Tribunal documents published on Tuesday said HMRC decided the club was "not entitled" to benefit from not paying VAT on the construction of the new pavilion in May 2015.

The decision started a four-year legal battle and also prompted then Eynsham's MP and former Prime Minister David Cameron to raise the issue with his chancellor George Osborne.

Mr Miller said he believed the club lost the case because "if we had won, every other club in a similar position would have gone back to HMRC using us as an example to get money back (on building projects)".