Phone cards
Further to the Court of Appeal's judgment in favour of HMRC in IDT Card Services Ireland Ltd, HMRC have confirmed that they will not enforce any existing assessments unless and until it is clear that the House of Lords will not consider an appeal or the litigation is otherwise concluded. In the meantime, over the course of the next few months HMRC will identify, as necessary, the distributors of both IDT's phone cards and other phone cards sold under similar arrangements, and begin to carry out visits to quantify the necessary assessments, so as not to miss any time limits.
Business Brief 3/06 dated 9 March 2006
Beauty procedures
Following the establishment of the Healthcare Commission under the Care Standards Act 2000, certain procedures using prescribed techniques or prescribed technologies became regulated for the first time. Among these were the use of class 3B and 4 lasers and IPL machines.
Where the procedure using this equipment is supplied as part of a treatment programme drawn up by a registered health professional following the diagnosis of a medical condition, this treatment is exempt from VAT. Where it is carried out for a cosmetic reason rather than as an element of medical or surgical treatment, this service is taxable at the standard rate of VAT.
Business Brief 3/06 dated 9 March 2006
