RPS Health in Business Ltd, RPS Consulting Services Ltd v Revenue & Customs (VAT - occupational health services)

VAT - occupational health services - whether exempt or standard rated - whether single or multiple supply - whether Tribunal can decide appeal on basis not put forward by either party - yes - Levob, Mesto and Metropolitan considered and applied - overarching test - appeal refused "

Sitting in public at the Tribunal Centre, Taylor House, Rosebery Avenue, London on 26 February 2019, 2- 5 July 2019 and 4-6 December 2019

Ms Jennifer Newstead Taylor of Counsel, instructed by the General Counsel and Solicitor to HM Revenue and Customs for the Respondents

This judgment is about whether occupational health (�OH�) services are exempt or standard rated for VAT.� At the time the decisions under appeal were made, RPS Group plc had two subsidiaries providing OH services, RPS Health in Business Ltd (�HIB�) and RPS Consulting Services Ltd, trading as RPS Business Healthcare (�BHC�).� In October 2017, the subsidiaries merged to form RPS Occupational Health Ltd (�RPS OH Ltd�).� We have used �RPS� in this Decision to encompass both subsidiaries, unless otherwise required by the context.�

HM Revenue & Customs (�HMRC�) decided that services provided by the Appellants were exempt from VAT because they fell within the �medical exemption� at Value Added Tax Act 1994 (�VATA�), Sch 9, Group 7, Item 1, namely that they were �services consisting in the provision of medical care�.� The Appellants appealed on the basis that they were making standard rated supplies of information and advice to employers.�