Can HMRC challenge VAT rebate claims from members’ golf clubs?
KEY POINTS
- If VAT is repayable who should receive this: the trader or its customers?
- Revenue & Customs Brief 25/14 explains the ECJ decision in Bridport and West Dorset Golf Club Ltd.
- HMRC accept that supplies of sporting services by non-profit making sports clubs are exempt from VAT.
- Did the trader calculate cost on a VAT exclusive or inclusive basis?
- Will a consequent price reduction prejudice the repayment of VAT by HMRC?
About a century ago I carried out a VAT visit as a Customs and Excise officer to a business owner in Leicester who was renting out a ground-floor shop and first-floor flat to two different tenants.
He had opted to tax the property but mistakenly thought that the option applied to the rent that he earned...