In a statement to shareholders, Sportech said that on 24 May 2016 the Court of Appeal refused HMRC permission to appeal to the Supreme Court against the Court of Appeal's unanimous decision in favour of Sportech.

Sportech says it has been informed that HMRC has now applied directly to the Supreme Court for permission to appeal the Court of Appeal's unanimous judgment.

The company says it will file its notice of objection to such application by next Monday, and has been advised that it should expect to hear by the autumn whether HMRC has been granted the right to appeal to the Supreme Court.

The case centres on the VAT paid by Sportech between 1979 and 2006 relating to the Spot the Ball competition, which required entrants to place an ‘X’ to indicate where they thought the missing ball was on a football photo

Sportech argued that this was a game of chance, not skill, meaning that it should not have given rise to VAT. In December 2010, HMRC rejected the group’s initial claim but Sportech’s subsequent challenge was successful at a First Tier Tribunal (FTT) in March 2013.

As a result, HMRC made a £93m VAT repayment in June 2014. However, HMRC was then successful at an appeal to the UT, which ordered Sportech to return the money.

The case then went to the Court of Appeal which looked at whether the UT had acted incorrectly when it reversed the FTT’s view, and which decided in Sportech’s favour.

The ruling IFX Investment Company Ltd and Ors and The Commissioners for Her Majesty's Revenue and Customs, [2016] EWCA Civ 436 is here