Agents may still have a chance to claim back “significant” sums of money in VAT charges on credit cand debit card fees despite an EU ruling this week.
Travel Weekly revealed in May that agents could be in for a cash windfall if a case taken to the European Court of Justice by dentist services firm Denplan against Her Majesty’s Revenue and Customs (HMRC) was successful.
But Axa, the owner of Denplan, lost the case after the court ruled in favour of HMRC.
However, agencies still have a chance of recouping the VAT on their credit card charges thanks to a second case, according to Damon Wright, senior VAT manager at accountancy firm Grant Thornton.
He said: “Denplan is not a helpful decision but there are significant differences between the way Denplan worked and the way travel agencies operate.”
Wright said a seperate Tmobile case coming up this month would also contribute to the HMRC’s decision on the claims.
“It is possible agents will start to get claims rejected on the back of the Denplan decision. My advice would be to sit tight. If they have already had a claim rejected, they must think about lodging an appeal, and they could ask for the appeal to be put on hold for the Tmobile decision.”
“The industry could work together to take its own case to court, because the circumstances in both these cases are different from how an agency works,” he added.