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Strictly speaking it will be rejected but as @Temp says you may get lucky, you may not. Humans check the claims and can make errors.

Yes a precedent cannot be set for a tribunal case and HMRC may choose to ignore the outcome. The tribunal judges do generally look at previous cases however and often quote them in their decision reasoning. That said judges can rule as they see fit having interpreted the law so it often depends on interpretation. HMRC can say whatever they like on a claim form or verbally but if their ‘guidance’ does not correspond to the legal position then it’s not valid. The tribunal will only make a judgment based on what is lawful although tribunals have been known to criticise HMRC quite heavily.

What’s the break even position on this now @ProDave? Must be a bit more favourable?

I had a different warranty but I was given a quote at the start and paid the entire amount as a single payment. The cost was fixed as far as I was concerned. You note that there has been a premium increase however so are you paying for the cost as you move through the build rather than upfront? Ultimately it will depend on what your policy docs say and whether it allows for the price to change once the quote has been accepted. Have to admit I assumed that warranty costs were fixed at the point of quote acceptance. There was a case a few years ago where the insurer went into liquidation and those who had policies were asked to pay more as the back end insurer had changed but this doesn’t appear to fit that criteria.

I very much doubt it but I think the ‘how long has it been occupied for in the last 12 months’ is really for existing dwellings rather than new self builds so not sure that you would need to lie anyway.

The builder has charged 5% but for eligible conversions this 5% can be reclaimed from HMRC as part of the DIY house builders scheme.

I think I replied to you elsewhere but send them an information pack including the contract, details of how it was to be invoiced (monthly), an explanation that all work in progress would be shown on each monthly invoice so work in progress could show for several months until completed, that it was a fixed price supply and fit arrangement so you were not quoted for materials separately, and send photos of the work. They can’t understand the scope of the work and the contract detail simply from the invoices supplied. It’s not unusual for them to request further details for things that aren’t completely clear.

HMRC have lost a number of cases at tribunal when they decided that a property was complete using a spurious assessment of when that was likely to be. In some cases it defied all logic and they even contradicted themselves several times. Certainly the legislation appears to point towards the completion certificate as the key document that defines completion and the legislation has some provision that allows for people to apply for the reclaim if they wish before the completion certificate is ready, but no one should be forced to apply for the reclaim early if they choose not to. Clearly it makes no sense to push the boundaries and challenge HMRC to a dual so it also makes sense to leave some key work to complete after the property is occupied and without which the completion certificate can’t be issued. I believe that @jack took this approach by leaving some key work to his balconies to the end and had a record of fairly regular purchases leading up to completion to evidence work still to be done / still being done. So my advice (caveat emptor) would be to ensure that you clearly document work still to be completed post habitation, ensure a steady stream of purchases are entered into the reclaim form up until the completion certificate is issued, take lots of photos with clear dates, and look out for tribunal cases that appear to be turning the tide in HMRC’s favour. Currently the flow has been towards the tribunals siding with self builders. The other thing to note is that if a case goes to tribunal whatever HMRC have written on the claim form or tell you either verbally or in writing has no bearing once the case hits the tribunal. They are only there to uphold the law which is always based on the legislation. They may heavily criticise HMRC and have done in many cases but it will not change the outcome.

No you don’t need it. I never had one, I just waited for the completion certificate. You only need it if you want to live in the house with the council’s blessing but I don’t think many councils will care much as you have planning permission and will be paying council tax.

Ask building control.

Interestingly however the tribunal case linked above determined that the regulations imposed by HMRC are ultra vires (or beyond authority) by restricting applicants to one claim. It could also be argued that their stance on ‘completion’ is ultra vires too as can be evidenced in several tribunal decisions in the last year. I’m not sure why a professional would be able to claim more back as if you submit every invoice for materials I can’t see what else there is to claim but great if it made you some additional money.

I think if you have evidence that it took 5 months to receive notice of the listing which you clearly do have then you should be ok. It’s pitiful that they can’t work some of this out themselves however! I would take the opportunity to tell them that as you don’t yet have the completion certificate and there are still a few things to finish you intend to submit a supplementary claim at a later date a la the tribunal decision in the linked case below ? Ellis and Bromley tribunal decision

Personally I would never never use Hermes as they have such a bad reputation round here. I sent mine by Royal Mail tracked and signed for, delivery before noon. At least it was in transit for under 24 hours. Ensure that you send it at the start of the week so that the office is properly open when it arrives.

That’s interesting. There is mention of a supplementary claim being allowed in HMRC’s internal manual however not in the circumstances described in the article, and I’ve never heard of anyone sending a supplementary claim and being successful. https://www.gov.uk/hmrc-internal-manuals/vat-construction/vconst24550 The decision also seems to fly in the face of the view that once the completion certificate has been issued zero rating ends too but it’s difficult to see how a builder is supposed to determine when a property is ‘complete’ if there is no clear guidance from HMRC. I guess they would need to check the planning permission and decide whether the work is contained within the plans.

I think that doing it in 2 stages may complicate the CIL position. If you are planning to live in the house for at least 36 months post completion I would do the whole planning app in 1 go and then immediately apply for the self builder CIL exemption. If you apply for the exemption for the annex I’m not sure where that leaves you in terms of then applying for an exemption for the main house too given that it’s all the same title. On the annex front are you prepared to pay council tax on this too because 2 self contained units will attract 2 lots of council tax?