VAT Treatment of Mobile Ride-Hailing Services: First-Tier Tribunal Decision

• The First-tier Tribunal (FTT) has made a decision regarding the VAT treatment of mobile ride-hailing services supplied by Bolt Services UK Limited (Bolt).
• Bolt requested a ruling that the Tour Operators Margin Scheme (TOMS) applied to their ride-hailing services, but HMRC disagreed.
• The dispute is about the amount of VAT due on the supplies and whether Bolt should account for VAT based on the total amount paid by the customer or on the margin.
• The question is whether Bolt’s ride-hailing services fall within the scope of TOMS.
• This appeal does not include supplies made to business customers or services like Black Cab rides or Bolt Tours.
• Bolt argues that their services fall within TOMS because they are of a kind commonly provided by tour operators or travel agents.
• HMRC argues that Bolt is not a tour operator or travel agent and their supplies fall outside of TOMS.
• The VAT Directive requires Member States to apply a special VAT scheme to transactions carried out by travel agents.
• TOMS is authorized in the UK.

Source: ey.com

Note that this post was (partially) written with the help of AI. It is always useful to review the original source material, and where needed to obtain (local) advice from a specialist.

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