Debenhams Retail Plc v. Commissioners of Customs & Excise

In the Debenhams Retail PLC v. Commissioners of Customs and Excise case, Debenhams attempted to supply the card handling services directly to the customer for a percentage of the ticket price and discount the supply of goods by that amount. Despite Debenhams' assertions that the 2.5% of its tak...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:British Tax Review 2004-01 (1), p.26
Main Authors: Ladds, David, Chowdry, Monica
Format: Article
Language:English
Subjects:
Retailing industry
Tax avoidance
VAT
Online Access:Get full text
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Summary:In the Debenhams Retail PLC v. Commissioners of Customs and Excise case, Debenhams attempted to supply the card handling services directly to the customer for a percentage of the ticket price and discount the supply of goods by that amount. Despite Debenhams' assertions that the 2.5% of its takings paid to DCHS were exempt from VAT, Customs assessed the retailer to VAT for the full ticket price. Given the importance and complexity of the issues involved, it seems inevitable that legislation will be introduced to combat these schemes. In light of the varied ways in which they can be implemented, it will be difficult to come up with a single piece of legislation to cover all of them. Further, there is the complicating factor of VAT being a European tax.
ISSN:0007-1870