United Kingdom Tax Tribunal Clarifies Obligation to Register for VAT for Self-Employed Individuals

The United Kingdom First-Tier Tax Tribunal Nov. 28 posted a judgment in Case No. TC09703, clarifying the obligation to register for VAT for self-employed individuals. The taxpayer, a self-employed hairdresser, was registered for VAT until October 2011 and then deregistered, claiming that his turnover remained below the VAT threshold and that he had adopted a rent-a-chair model with another stylist. The Tax Agency contended that the taxpayer’s arrangement didn’t meet the criteria for the model and that the stylist’s income should be included in the taxpayer’s turnover for VAT purposes, resulting in compulsory VAT registration for 2011-2022. On appeal, the ...