The Irish Supreme Court ruled that the bread sold by the restaurant chain Subway was too sweet to be classified as bread and that the high sugar content meant that it could not be zero rated.
The Irish Supreme Court ruled that the bread sold by the restaurant chain Subway was too sweet to be classified as bread and that the high sugar content meant that it could not be zero rated.
Toffee apples are zero-rated, however, any other fruit which is covered in sugar (or toffee) sold as confectionary is standard rated.
Supplies relating to property may be, or have been; 20%, 17.5%, 15.%, 10% 5%, zero-rated, exempt, or outside the scope of VAT – all impacting, in different ways, upon the VAT position of a supplier and customer. In addition, the law permits certain exempt supplies to be changed to 20% without the agreement of the customer. As soon as a taxpayer is provided with a choice, there is a chance of making the wrong one! Even very slight differences in circumstances may result in a different and potentially unexpected VAT outcome, and it is an unfortunate fact of business life that VAT cannot be ignored.
Why is VAT important?
The fact that the rules are complex, ever-changing, and the amounts involved in property transactions are usually high means that there is an increased risk of making errors. This is increased by the fact that these are often one-off transactions by a business, and in-house, in depth tax knowledge is sometimes absent. Such activities can result in large penalties and interest payments, plus unwanted attentions from VAT inspectors. Uncertainty regarding VAT may affect budgets and an unforeseen VAT bill (and additional SDLT) may risk the profitability of a venture.
Problem areas
Certain transactions tend to create more VAT issues than others. These include;
Additionally, the VAT treatment of building services throws up its own set of VAT complications.
The above are just examples and the list is not exhaustive.
VAT Planning
The usual adage is “right tax, right time”. This, more often than not, means considering the VAT treatment of a transaction well in advance of that transaction taking place. Unfortunately, with VAT there is usually very little planning that can be done after the event. For peace of mind a consultation with a VAT adviser can steer you through the complexities and, if there are issues, to minimise the impact of VAT on a project. Assistance of a VAT adviser is usually crucial if there are any disputes with VAT inspectors. Experience insists that this is an area which HMRC have raised significant revenue from penalties and interest where taxpayers get it wrong.
Don’t leave it to chance!
For more information, please see our Land & Property services
In the current election the Liberal Democrats’ manifesto stated that they would apply zero-rating to children’s toothbrushes and toothpaste. Whether this impacts the money left by the tooth fairy remains to be seen…
Latest from the courts
In the First-Tier tribunal case of Queenscourt Limited the issue was whether dip pots supplied as part of a takeaway meal deal are a separate zero-rated supply (of cold food) or whether they are part of a single VATable supply of hot food.
Background
The appellant had originally accounted for output tax on the basis that dip pots formed part of a single standard rated supply with other food. However, following advice, it then formed the view that zero-rating applied to these pots and submitted a claim for overpaid output tax. HMRC agreed to repay the VAT claimed.
Subsequently, a further claim as made on a similar basis for a later period. This was considered by a different officer who refused to make the repayment on the basis that there was no separate supply of the dip pots. This called into question whether the payment of the initial claim was correct. The officer considered the previous repayment to have been incorrect and issued assessments in order to recover the amount which had been repaid.
Queenscourt now appealed both against the decision to refuse the repayment claimed in the second error correction notice and also against the recovery assessment relating to the first error correction notice. Moreover, the recovery assessments are invalid as there has been no change in circumstances and no new facts have come to light since HMRC agreed to repay the tax. Alternatively, it argues that HMRC are prevented from recovering the tax, either on the basis of legitimate expectation or estoppel by convention, in each case arising as a result of HMRC’s original agreement that that tax should be repaid.
Decision
The appeal was dismissed.
Commentary
It is difficult to see the end of single/multiple supply cases, as my previous articles consider:
Here, here, here, here, and how to categorise a supply here.
Banana and strawberry flavoured Nesquik drinks are standard rated, but chocolate flavoured Nesquik is zero rated.
There are very few VAT reliefs for charities (and it may be argued that an exemption is more than a burden than a relief) but there is an exemption for a charity which qualifies as undertaking a one-off fundraising event. The criteria are quite restrictive, and it is important that the correct treatment is applied. Furthermore, it may be in a charity’s interest to avoid the exemption if there is a lot of input tax attributable to the event, say; venue hire, entertainment, catering etc.
A qualifying event means that a charity (or its trading subsidiary) does not charge VAT on money paid for admittance to that event.
What is covered?
In order to be exempt, the event must be a one-off fundraising event which is “any event organised and promoted primarily to raise funds (monetary or otherwise) for a charity”. Consequently, we always advise clients to make it clear on tickets and advertising material (including online) that the event is for raiding funds and to use a statement; “all profits will be used to support the charitable aims of XYZ” or similar.
HMRC say that an event is an incident with an outcome or a result. This means that activities of a semi-regular or continuous nature, such as the operation of a shop or bar, cannot therefore be an event.
The following are examples of the kind of event which qualify:
Tip
Often there may be an auction of donated goods at a fundraising event. There is a specific and helpful relief for such sales. The sale of donated goods is zero rated which means any attributable input tax is recoverable. Consequently, if both exempt and zero rated supplies are made it is possible to apportion input tax to a charity’s benefit. Zero rating may also apply to sales such as: food (not catering) printed matter and children’s clothing
Limit to the number of events held
Eligible events are restricted to 15 events of the same kind in a charity’s financial year at any one location. The restriction prevents distortion of competition with other suppliers of similar events which do not benefit from the exemption. If a charity holds 16 or more events of the same kind at the same location during its financial year none of the events will qualify for exemption. However, the 15-event limit does not apply to fundraising events where the gross takings from all similar events, such as coffee mornings, are no more than £1,000 per week.
Clearly, the number of events needs to be monitored and planning will therefore be available should exemption be desired (or avoided as the relevant figures dictate).
What is a charity?
This seems to be a straightforward question in most cases, but can cause difficulties, so it is worthwhile looking at the VAT rules here.
Bodies have charitable status when they are:
Not all non-profit making organisations are charities. The term ‘charity’ has no precise definition in any law. Its scope has been determined by case law. It is therefore necessary to establish whether an organisation is a charity using the following guidelines:
Trading arm
It is worth noting that HMRC also accept that a body corporate which is wholly owned by a charity and whose profits are payable to a charity, will qualify and may therefore may apply the VAT exemption to fundraising events. This means that a charity’s own trading company can hold exempt fundraising events on behalf of the charity.
Further/alternative planning
If sales are not exempt as a fundraising event, there is a way to avoid VAT being chargeable on all income received. It is open to a charity to set a basic minimum charge which will be standard rated, and to invite those attending the event to supplement this with a voluntary donation.
The extra contributions will be outside the scope of VAT (not exempt) if all the following conditions are met:
It should be noted that any other donations collected at an event are also outside the scope of VAT.
Partial exemption
A charity must recognise the impact of making exempt supplies (as well as carrying out non-business activity). These undertakings will have an impact on the amount of input tax a charity is able to recover. Details here
Summary
We find that charities are often confused about the rules and consequently fail to take advantage of the VAT position. This also extends to school academies which are all charities. It is usually worthwhile for charities to carry out a VAT review of its activities as quite often VAT savings can be identified.
The following article provides help with Scheme claimants:
Dead mice, rats and day-old chicks sold for feeding to exotic pets may be zero-rated.
Where goods are located in a shop can affect the VAT treatment. Nuts sold in the bakery aisle are VAT free, but those sold with snacks or confectionary are standard rated.