HM Revenue and Customs v Weight Watchers (UK) Ltd: ChD 21 Jan 2008

The court was asked whether the weight-watchers program which included attendance at a course and a supply of supporting materials was one single standard-rated supply or separate supplies of zero-rated printed materials and standard-rated support services.
Held: The court asked whether if the tribunal was mistaken as to the law the court should overrule the decision and said that as a specialist tribunal the court should be circumspect before making the decision itself. That degree of caution was not as high as the Edwards v Bairstow question.
The issue was whether the materials are so closely linked to the services provided at the Meetings that they form objectively a single indivisible supply which it would be artificial to split. There were mixed supplies both at the first meeting and thereafter. The Tribunal in the present case had applied the correct legal test to the primary facts found by them. The appeal was dismissed as regards the first meeting’s materials. As to later materials it would be artificial to split them from the meetings at which they were used, and the tax payers appeal succeeded in this respect.

Judges:

Morgan J

Citations:

[2008] EWHC 53 (Ch), [2008] BVC 254, [2008] BTC 5129, [2008] STC 301, [2008] STI 180

Links:

Bailii

Jurisdiction:

England and Wales

Citing:

CitedCollege of Estate Management v Customs and Excise HL 20-Oct-2005
The college supplied educational services by distance learning. The commissioner sought to argue that printe daterials supplied with the course were ancillary and did not have the same exemption form VAT.
Held: The supplies did benefit from . .
CitedFaaborg-Gelting Linien v Finanzamt Flensburg ECJ 2-May-1996
A non-takeaway restaurant is a supply of services, and a ferry supply was made from its place of business. The supply of prepared food and drink at a restaurant resulted from a whole series of services (including the preparation and service of the . .
CitedLevob Verzekeringen and Ov Bank v Staatssecretaris van Financien ECJ 27-Oct-2005
ECJ Sixth VAT Directive – Articles 2, 5, 6 and 9 – Transfer of software recorded on a carrier – Subsequent customisation of the software to the purchaser-?s specific requirements – Single taxable supply – Supply . .
CitedCard Protection Plan Ltd v Commissioners of Customs and Excise ECJ 25-Feb-1999
A company procuring insurance purchases for credit card protection was as exempt from VAT as was the insurer. A provision which restricted the ability to claim such exemption to those registered as insurers under national was invalid under European . .
CitedBeynon and Partners v Customs and Excise HL 25-Nov-2004
The House asked whether the personal administration of a drug such as a vaccine by an NHS doctor to a patient is a taxable supply for the purposes of value added tax. The provision of medical care in the exercise of the medical and paramedical . .
CitedEdwards (Inspector of Taxes) v Bairstow HL 25-Jul-1955
The House was asked whether a particular transaction was ‘an adventure in the nature of trade’.
Held: Although the House accepted that this was ‘an inference of fact’, on the primary facts as found by the Commissioners ‘the true and only . .
CitedCooke v Secretary of State for Social Security CA 25-Apr-2001
Although production of a new medical report, or of a new medical opinion, could evidence a relevant change of circumstances, to support the claim that the threshold had been reached so as to allow a review of a decision to grant benefits, it did not . .
CitedNapp Pharmaceutical Holdings Ltd v Director General of Fair Trading CA 8-May-2002
The applicant sought leave to appeal against a decision of the Competition Commission Appeals Tribunal.
Held: Since the decision of the tribunal did not involve questions of law, it fell exactly within the Cooke case, and the court should be . .
CitedSecretary of State for the Home Department v AH (Sudan) and others HL 14-Nov-2007
The three respondents had fled persecution in Darfur. They sought asylum which was refused, and they now appealed. It was argued that whilst they had a well founded fear of persecution in Dhafur, that would not apply if they returned to Khartoum. . .
CitedAble (UK) Ltd v Revenue and Customs CA 22-Nov-2007
The taxpayer company had received compensation for having been excluded from its business premises for a period until a compulsory purchase process failed. It treated the receipt as capital. The revenue said it was income.
Held: The court . .
Lists of cited by and citing cases may be incomplete.

VAT, Litigation Practice

Updated: 12 July 2022; Ref: scu.263803