HMRC v National Exhibition Centre

In HMRC v National Exhibition Centre C-130/15 (26 May 2017) the CJEU found that a service consisting in the sale of tickets and the processing of payments did not fall within the exemption of the Sixth Directive art 13B(d)(3) (transactions in respect of payments and transfers).

The NEC owned and operated the National Exhibition Centre and other venues in Birmingham which were used to stage trade and public exhibitions sporting events and concerts. It hired its venues to third party promoters and sold tickets for those events. The NEC refunded the event promoter the part of the amount paid by the customer corresponding to the ticket price and kept the amount corresponding to the booking fee. The issue was whether the service provided by the NEC fell within the art 13B(d((3) exemption so that no VAT was due on the booking fee.

The court noted that...