Success for agricultural society on VAT position of show admission

Admission to events such as agricultural shows can be exempt from VAT but there are conditions that need to be met in order for VAT not to apply to the income.

The VAT exemption here applies to charities organising events for fund raising purposes, according to Saffery Champness, which has followed the First Tier Tribunal case of Yorkshire Agricultural Society v HMRC.

The Great Yorkshire Show remains one of the most popular agricultural events and attracts 140,000 visitors each year and is operated by the society.

The the recent case, it highlighted the importance of fundraising being a primary purpose of the event and that the event is promoted as such, Saffery Champness says.

In this case, the Yorkshire Agricultural Society, a registered charity, was able to successfully demonstrate it met the conditions for VAT exemption for admission charges to the Great Yorkshire Show

For VAT exemption to apply the event must be organised by a charity for charitable purposes, with a primary purpose being fund raising and for that to be advertised and promoted to attendees.

Nick Hart, director at Saffery Champness explains more: “Another element to the case which the Tribunal considered was the validity of HMRC’s assessment for VAT.

"The assessment for under-declared VAT was found to be ‘out of time’ because it had not been issued within one year of evidence of facts being known by HMRC and being sufficient for it to raise an assessment."

He adds: "It is always worth taking advice when a VAT assessment is received from HMRC, to check it has been issued within the appropriate time limits.

"Otherwise, it is not valid and should be withdrawn.”