- Background of the Case: Sonder Europe Ltd purchased accommodation rights for residential apartments from landlords and furnished some of these units, subsequently supplying them to business and leisure travelers for shorter stays, while using the Tour Operators Margin Scheme (TOMS) for VAT accounting.
- HMRC Appeal Grounds: HMRC appealed the First-tier Tribunal’s (FTT) ruling that Sonder’s supplies qualified as “designated travel services” under TOMS, arguing that the FTT erred in its legal interpretation regarding material alterations and the benefits to travelers.
- Upper Tribunal Ruling: The Upper Tribunal (UT) upheld HMRC’s appeal, determining that Sonder’s supplied rights to the apartments involved material alterations and were not supplied directly for the benefit of travelers, thus excluding them from TOMS designation
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.
