In GE Aircraft Engine Services Ltd v HMRC (Case C-607/20) (27 January 2022) the advocate general of the CJEU provided her views on the requirement to account for VAT on services given away free of charge in the context of a UK business which had given vouchers to its staff to recognise merit. In the AG’s view services provided free of charge to employees were deemed supplies (and consequently subject to VAT) unless ‘necessary’ in light of the particular person’s business activities. For a service to be ‘necessary’ in this context it needed to meet two criteria; it had to have a link with the business’s economic activity and the business needed to retain ‘control’ over the use of the gift. However in the circumstances of the case the vouchers represented a ‘right to a future supply’ which meant it was strictly...