In determining whether what would otherwise be two supplies should be regarded as a single supply the court has to ask itself whether one element is an ‘integral part’ of the other, or is ‘ancillary’ or ‘incidental’ to the other; or (in the decisions of the Court of Justice) whether the two elements are ‘physically and economically dissociable.’ This, however, merely replaces one question with another. In order to answer this further question, the court must consider ‘what is the true and substantial nature of the consideration given for the payment’. There are, however, limits to this process. Where supplies are made by different suppliers, they cannot be fused together to make a single supply; and it is probably only in relatively simple transactions that the reduction of multiple to single supplies is appropriate.
Judges:
Millett L.J
Citations:
[1997] EWHC Admin 52, [1997] STC 445
Jurisdiction:
England and Wales
Citing:
See also – Customs and Excise Commissioners v Wellington Private Hospital Ltd and Others QBD 30-May-1995
Medicines provided by hospitals from own stocks and prostheses are exempt supplies. . .
Cited – Bophuthatswana National Commercial Corporation v Commissioners of Customs and Excise CA 13-Sep-1993
The services of a company representing an unrecognized nation may be chargeable. The court must consider ‘what is the true and substantial nature of the consideration given for the payment’. . .
Cited by:
See Also – Customs and Excise Commissioners v Wellington Private Hospital Ltd and Others QBD 30-May-1995
Medicines provided by hospitals from own stocks and prostheses are exempt supplies. . .
Cited – Nell Gwynn House Maintenance Fund v Commissioners of Customs and Excise HL 15-Dec-1998
Trustees who managed a group of apartments argued that they did not themselves provide staff services to the tenants, but rather arranged for the staff to provide services to them.
Held: The contract providing cleaning and other services, by a . .
Cited – College of Estate Management v Commissioners of Customs and Excise CA 11-Aug-2004
When offering courses to distance learning students, the College offered materials for the courses. As part of the course this supply would be exempt, as books, the supply would be zero-rated, but the taxpayer would be able to reclaim its VAT . .
Lists of cited by and citing cases may be incomplete.
VAT
Updated: 12 April 2022; Ref: scu.136997