B2C place of supply of digital services
An ongoing area of risk for both VAT registered and Non-VAT registered businesses is the place of supply of their services, as there are many small differences which can catch suppliers out. For VAT purposes, the place of supply is generally where a business is liable to charge VAT.
Royal Opera House VAT alert
A recent Court of Appeal case concerning the Royal Opera House Foundation has decided that that there was no direct and immediate link between the costs of staging productions and their taxable supplies of catering etc. The production costs were found to be ‘directly and immediately linked’ to ticket sales which are exempt from VAT due to the cultural exemption rules and the VAT costs incurred on them as a consequence was irrecoverable.
VAT on the sale and leaseback of care homes
The Supreme Court’s recent decision in Balhousie Holdings [Balhousie Holdings Ltd v HMRC [2021] UKSC 11] indicates that care home operators (and other entities such as charities and universities) may be able to use sell and lease back arrangements to finance the construction of new buildings without incurring a significant VAT penalty.
Updated VAT Alert – Welfare services
A recent Court of Appeal case has decided against two organisations that provided day care services.
VAT alert - Domestic reverse charge article updates
From 1 March 2021, if your VAT-registered business provides certain supplies of construction services to another business you may no longer need to charge them VAT. This is because your customer may need to account for it under the new domestic reverse charge for construction services.
VAT alert - builder's block on input VAT
‘A recent first-tier tribunal case, Wickford Development Co Limited v HMRC, has been found in favour of the taxpayer, raising again the possibility of HMRC incorrectly interpreting the scope of the ‘Builder’s Block’, this being HMRC’s block on builders and contractors recovering input VAT incurred on goods that are not ‘building materials ordinarily incorporated in a building’.
VAT alert - Compensation vs Consideration for a supply
Previously, HMRC guidance stated that when customers are charged early termination fees to withdraw from contracts, or payments are required for breach of contract, then these charges are not generally relating to a supply and are outside the scope of VAT.
VAT Alert - Low Value Consignment Relief
Currently, under the Low Value Consignment Relief (LVCR) a UK business importing goods from outside the European Union of a value below £15 is not required to pay import VAT.