Lunchtime diversion

Taxation recently covered an appeal by the English Bridge Union. The Upper Tribunal decided to refer to the Court of Justice of the EU the question of whether bridge constituted a sport for VAT purposes. This gave rise to a little mockery in the Taxation team – couldn’t the UK tribunal reach its own decision on this point?

I take it all back.

At a lunch with friends on Sunday, I mentioned this case – the hostess being a bridge player – and several minutes of discussion ensued.

What about darts? Or snooker? Are these sports or games? How can bridge be a sport when there’s no physical action? But what about the competitive element? And so on.

The consensus was that it was a good thing the issue had been referred to the European court because we couldn’t decide either.