Readers’ forum: Is there still a VAT advantage to including a booking fee?

I was booking a ticket to a music event recently. As usual these days the booking was online. However I was surprised to see that the price included a booking fee of 15%.

Bearing in mind that this is presumably a fully automated system the charge did seem a little high; that said I am not a computer expert so perhaps something is going on ‘behind the screen’ that will justify this. My experience did make me wonder how much might be acceptable as a booking fee charge.

Am I correct in thinking that this element of the ticket cost would not be subject to VAT as being for financial services or credit card handling? If so I am thinking that some of my clients who operate small music venues should adopt such an approach.

Could a similar element be included in the price of...