Government loses cash machine case

THE GOVERNMENT has lost a landmark appeal at the UK’s highest court over the charging of separate business rates on supermarket cash machines.

Valuation officers from HM Revenue & Customs challenged a Court of Appeal ruling which concluded that ATMs at existing properties, either inside or outside, should not be subject to separate bills.

But, in a ruling yesterday, a panel of five justices dismissed the Government’s appeal and upheld the Court of Appeal’s decision. It paves the way for an estimated £430m to be paid in reimbursements to retailers.

Lawyers for Cardtronics UK Ltd, which operates and manages about 20,000 ATMs in the UK and opposed the Government’s appeal, described the ruling as a “resounding win”.

Emily Wood, partner and head of the real estate dispute resolution team at law firm

DMH Stallard, who represented Cardtronics, said: “Retaining the imposition of rates on ATMs would have had huge ramifications not only for the industry, but the provision of available cash to spend locally and where needed.

“More so than ever, in the current climate, the right decision has been upheld by the court.”

The Court of Appeal ruled in November 2018 that cash machines at existing properties, either inside or outside, should not be subject to separate business rates bills, overturning an earlier Upper Tribunal decision.

Senior judges ordered the Government to repay the money and confirm there would be no future tax demands.

But retailers were denied a tax stimulus when the Valuation Office Agency, an executive agency of HM Revenue & Customs, decided to take the case to the Supreme Court.