Claimant v The Construction Industry Training Board — 2020

In House Carpentry Limited appealed against a 2018 levy assessment notice served by the Construction Industry Training Board on 6 April 2019 in the sum of £461. The tribunal recorded that the Appellant accepted it was engaged in construction activity within Schedule 1 of the relevant Order and also accepted that it fell within the definition of an enterprise engaged in the construction industry for levy purposes.

The issue argued at the hearing was not the amount of the levy, but whether the company was liable because it had never been formally registered with the Board. The tribunal held that individual registration was not required for liability to arise. It found that, provided the assessment had been correctly calculated and validly served, liability followed without the need for separate registration.

The tribunal referred to the Industrial Training Act 1982 and the relevant Orders, and noted its view that the levy operated like a tax in the sense that it was payable if the conditions applied whether or not the payer received a direct benefit. On that basis, the tribunal found the assessment notice had been validly served and that the Appellant was liable to pay the levy. The appeal was therefore dismissed.