Mandarin Consulting Ltd v HMRC

In Mandarin Consulting Ltd v HMRC [2021] UKUT 292 (TCC) (23 November 2021) the UT held that failure to provide adequate evidence that the recipient is permanently resident outside of the UK will result in the supply being liable to UK VAT.

the taxpayer provides coaching and support services to students of Chinese origin. Until July 2016 the services were provided to the students studying in the UK (albeit paid for by their parents/grandparents). From 2016 the services were provided to the student’s parents and were treated as outside the scope of UK VAT  as the place of supply of consultancy services is where the non-EU recipient belongs. The issue surrounds the VAT treatment of the services provided to the students before July 2016  as Mandarin failed to keep adequate records confirming the permanent address of each of the students which was required to establish that they were resident outside of the EU. HMRC concluded that the place of supply was the UK  and the services...