VAT and self-employed tutors: conflicting advice

What action do you take if HMRC’s published guidance appears to give contradictory answers to the same question? You might try to contact the department and ask for clarification but what happens if an officer denies there is a discrepancy? You now have a problem.

A second option might be to send a reader’s query to Taxation and get the views of two experts who will hopefully give a definitive answer to help your hazardous journey through the shark-infested waters of the nation’s favourite tax. But what if the experts disagree? Read on and all will be revealed.

Lessons invoiced to a school

The above dilemma relates to a typical everyday situation which happens with great frequency across the UK namely when a self-employed person – not a limited company – gives lessons to students in a school or college but is paid directly by the school and...