Case report: place of establishment for building services in Muster Inns

The decision in Muster Inns Limited (TC03689) is helpful in answering the question as to whether a business based abroad creates an establishment for VAT purposes in the UK simply by carrying out a long-term contract in the UK which requires 'human and technical resources' to be present on site.

These were services relating to land, and therefore the place of supply was fundamentally in the UK. The question was whether the supplier had to register for and charge VAT, or whether it was levied under the reverse charge by the importer of the services.