TC09528 - [2025] UKFTT 00564 (TC)

To benefit from the reduced rate of VAT under Group 16, Ingliston’s supplies must fall within the category of a right of admission to “shows, theatres, circuses, fairs, amusement parks, concerts, museums, zoos, cinemas, exhibitions and similar cultural events and facilities”.

It was common ground that Ingliston was not supplying a right of admission to a show, theatre, circus, fair, amusement park, concert, museum, zoo, cinema, or exhibition. The question in dispute was whether it was supplying a right of admission to a similar cultural event or facility.

HMRC’s submissions on this question focused on the CJEU’s judgment in Erotic Center, where at [17] the court held that the events and facilities listed in what is now Item 7:

“have in particular the common feature that they are available to the public on prior payment of an admission fee giving all those who pay it the right collectively to enjoy the cultural and entertainment services characteristic of those events and facilities.”

HMRC submitted that it follows from this passage that there are three key characteristics of the specified attractions in Group 16 and Item 7 which any non-specified attraction must share if it is to fall within the category of “similar cultural events and facilities”:

HMRC contended that Ingliston’s supplies have none of these characteristics. We do not agree. We provide an overview below of HMRC’s case regarding these three characteristics, and explain why we do not accept these submissions.