Get A Drip
There have been many cases going through the tax tribunals over the VAT liability of services, and in particular whether the medical exemption applies. Get A Drip Ltd (GAD) were successful at the First Tier Tribunal (FTT) with their arguments that the supplies of intravenous vitamin drips and vitamin injections were used to treat health disorders, and should therefore be exempt from VAT.
HMRC accepts that exemption applies where a health professional supplies services within the scope of the profession in which they’re registered to practice, and the primary purpose of the services is the protection, maintenance or restoration of the health of the person concerned. It’s largely this second point that they argue is not met when looking at assessing a business for VAT. This was the case here, and they had argued that GAD was not diagnosing a health disorder which they subsequently treated.
GAD disagreed, and stated that the drips and injections were administered for a therapeutic purpose, following consultation and diagnosis by an appropriately qualified person. Therefore in their view the exemption should apply. A number of patient files were discussed as sample cases during the hearing, and the fact that these were well documented with a diagnosis and treatment plan significantly aided in GAD’s argument.
As is always the case, HMRC had an expert witness involved with their case however, for reasons unknown, this expert was removed prior to the hearing, and the tribunal was instructed to disregard any previously submitted evidence from them. This was likely to have been beneficial for GAD, as it left their expert witness as the only medically qualified expert involved in the case.
GAD ultimately won their argument, and it was agreed they were exempt from VAT. It is unclear whether HMRC plan to appeal this decision. This is another in a long line of medical exemption cases being heard, HMRC continue to assess practitioners on the grounds that supplies are primarily cosmetic and/or non-medical in nature.