BBC v Johns [1965]* Ch 32

Facts:

  • BBC sought to submit that they ought to be exempt from income tax generally as they should be considered a monopoly resultant from prior government decisions grounded in royal prerogative and subsequently be viewed as an emanation of the Crown

Issue:
  • Whether the BBC could be viewed as a statutory body and thus exempt from taxation
  • Whether the British Government was authorised to create new monopolies in certain areas

Held: 
  • The Court viewed that a body's own decision to enhance its prerogative powers would not be compelling to a Court and further that legal exemptions of the type sought by the BBC were only permissible by the discretion of the oversight bodies and royal prerogative
  • As the BBC was not a statutory creation and did not exercise any statutory functions, it was not subject to any statutory guidance and could not claim taxation exemption benefits

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