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VAT briefing for March 2017

Lee Squires and Fiona Bantock (Hogan Lovells) report the latest VAT developments that matter.
 

Marriott and Whitbread: customer loyalty schemes

In Marriott Rewards LLC and Whitbread Group Plc v HMRC [2017] UKFTT 140 (TC) (reported in Tax Journal 10 February 2017) the First-tier Tribunal (FTT) has given an interesting decision on the VAT treatment of a customer loyalty scheme.

A US company Marriott Rewards LLC (MR) operated a loyalty scheme relating to hotels. A customer could use reward points it had gained from staying in Marriott hotels to obtain a free stay at a participating hotel. When a customer received reward points for staying at a hotel MR charged the hotel for issuing the points. When the customer redeemed their free stay the hotel providing this reward (the Redeemer) charged MR for doing so.

The FTT held that when a Redeemer provided the reward...

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