Booted out?

I have a client that is a non-profit making members’ golf club which is registered for VAT. The club recently organised a fundraising event namely a car-boot sale where each seller was charged £20 for a pitch.

There was also a separate activity where the club’s self-employed professional was giving “golf swing” coaching and paid the club 50% of his takings as a commission.

Our view (and that of the club) was that both income sources qualified for exemption from VAT as a fundraising event. It was clearly publicised in this way.

However we have concerns about the £20 receipts from the car-boot sellers because we have just discovered that the club opted to tax the land in question about nine years ago.

Our understanding now is that the option to tax for land income can only be overridden in a limited number of circumstances ...