TC09528 - [2025] UKFTT 00564 (TC)

We accept, following the guidance from the CJEU in Erotic Center, that the events and facilities listed in Group 16 and Item 7 provide a right to collective enjoyment, and that this “collective” element was missing in the case of the private cubicles under consideration in Erotic Center.

HMRC submitted that the driving experiences supplied by Ingliston are predominantly personal. A majority of customers, whether driving or as passengers, are in two-seater vehicles containing just themselves and an instructor. The remainder in four-seater vehicles are with an instructor and a maximum of two other customers. That, according to HMRC, is very different from the collective experience of a concert, fairground, exhibition etc, and is much more akin to the private film cubicles in Erotic Center.

We do not accept this submission and find that Ingliston’s supplies do provide a right to collective enjoyment. At any given time there are likely to be multiple cars driving on the same track: an average of around 12. Customers can see the other cars, and will know that the people in the other cars can see them. They may take part in simulated races. Customers in four-seaters are normally with family or friends, and those in two-seaters are not alone in their car as they are always accompanied by an instructor. This is far from a solitary experience, and as such is very different from the private film cubicles in Erotic Center.

We would accept that the occupants of different cars have a degree of physical separation from one another that would not be found in, say, the audience of a theatre or cinema (assuming full attendance). However, rides in fairs or amusement parks have a variety of configurations in which customers may be in separate compartments, and may not all be visible to one another. We do not, therefore, consider that collective enjoyment requires customers to be as close together as they would be in a full theatre or cinema.