Forum

• # 113194
• Mon 13 Jun 2016 08:35 PM

A client of mine uses Uber taxis on a regular basis - all for legitimate business purposes and all for fares within the UK.  How should I treat these expenses for VAT?

The invoices state at the top "Invoice issued by Uber B.V. on behalf of: 'DRIVER'S NAME'", and the VAT number (NL852071589B01) and address for Uber B.V. is printed at the bottom.  There is no breakdown of a VAT calculation.

I have established that the place of supply is the UK and the HMRC website states 'where the place of supply of services is in a Member State of the European Community (EC), that supply is subject to the VAT rules of that Member State and not those of any other country'.

As the place of supply is the UK and the company is VAT registered (albeit in another EU country), should I enter the transaction as including 20% VAT on expenses?

• Andrew

• 
  Quote
  

• # 113290
• Tue 28 Jun 2016 11:00 AM

Hi Andrew,

Any expenses where European VAT has been charged I believe cannot be claimed in the UK but need to be claimed in the country from which the VAT was charged (in this case, the Netherlands).

I believe what Uber have done (charged Dutch VAT on the receipt) was correct as they themselves are not based in the UK but are providing a service - I believe for services the VAT rate in the country of the supplier should be used, but don't quote me on this, I just remember doing some research regarding this.

Perhaps they can contact Uber to provide their VAT Registration number and have future charges Zero Rated instead?

One of my clients who had a lot of expenses in Europe used to receive EU VAT Refunds with the help of a company called Tevea, this is their link: http://www.tevea-international.com/en/ - perhaps something to consider if your client is incurring a lot of European expenses?

Hope this helps!

Meena

• 
  Quote