Gray & Farrar International v HMRC

In Gray & Farrar International v HMRC [2019] UKFTT 684 (8 November 2019) the FTT found that the provision of matchmaking services went beyond the provision of the services of consultants so that the Principal VAT Directive Article 59(c) did not apply.

Gray & Farrar (‘G&F’) ran an ‘exclusive’ matchmaking business. It provided its services to clients in many jurisdictions. It argued that its services fell within the Principal VAT Directive Article 59(c) (implemented in the UK by VATA 1994 Sch 4A para 16(2)(d)) as they constituted ‘services of consultants’ so that supplies to non-taxable persons residing outside the EU should be treated as supplies outside the EU and therefore outside the scope of VAT. HMRC disagreed and the issue was whether the services provided by G&F were similar to the services provided by consultants.

It was agreed that the services provided by G&F should be compared to services ‘principally...

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