Colin Peters has specialised in the law and practice of VAT since 1977.

After obtaining an honours degree in Modern History at Oxford University he worked as Secretary General of the British Chamber of Commerce in Casablance. He returned to the UK in 1974 to study law and later specialised in indirect tax.

Between 1979 and 1986 he worked in Customs’ Solicitor’s Office as a Senior Legal Assistant in their VAT tribunal division, conducting more than 100 appeals in the tribunal.

He later left Customs to join Hugh Mainprice as a partner in Mainprice and Co, a firm dealing exclusively with VAT.

He has contributed articles to Taxation and contributed case summaries to CCH.

Among the cases he has conducted in the VAT tribunal have been:

• Grunwick Processing Laboratories Ltd – a decision on the burden of proof and on the time limits for assessments
• Trafalgar Tours Ltd – a case on the value of supply
• Institute of Chartered Shipbrokers – a case on whether the institute was a “professional association” and therefore making exempt supplies
• Institute of Chartered Foresters – a case on simple or multiple supplies
• Institute of Biomedical Science – a partial exemption decision
• Grange Farm – a case on the apportionment of input tax deductible by the owner of a premier division football club
• Kingscrest Residential Care Homes – whether a care home operated on a for profit basis was entitled to standard rate its supplies (a subsequent decision, Kingscrest No. 2, was referred to the European Court of Justice)
• Bissell Homecare (Overseas) Inc – a decision on whether the then three year cap on repayments by Customs was applicable

He set up as a sole practitioner advising on VAT in 2004.