- The case of Go City Ltd involved the VAT treatment of sightseeing passes
- The passes were sold at a lower price than usual admittance at attractions
- HMRC initially accepted them as face value vouchers but later changed their view
- The difference in VAT treatment is based on whether the pass is single-purpose or multi-purpose
- Go City Ltd argued that the passes were multi-purpose vouchers and output tax was only due when redeemed
- HMRC contended that the passes were tickets and output tax was due upfront
- The appeal was allowed, with the passes being considered multi-purpose vouchers and outside the scope of VAT
- Recent changes have altered the UK rules for face value vouchers, which can be single or multi-purpose.
Source: deeksvat.co.uk
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.
