The case centred around a claim made by the appellant, London Luton Property Fund LLP, for a business premises renovation allowance (BPRA).

London Luton appealed against the decision of the First Tier Tribunal (FTT) after a dispute with HMRC over which elements of its expenditure qualified for BPRA.

In total, London Luton claimed £12,478,201 of BPRA when it converted a former flight training centre near London Luton Airport into a Ramada Encore hotel.

As a result HMRC opened an enquiry and issued a closure notice, which reduced the BPRA claim by £5,255,761 to £7,222,429.

London Luton argued that it was entitled to BPRA for the full amount claimed and maintained that the whole of that amount was reflected under an agreement that it had entered into with a developer, OVL Bankfield LLP, for the conversion of the property.