Summary
After Debenhams, the well-known High Street retailer, took advice from its accountants, it established a structure which allowed it to avoid paying VAT on the full value of its retail sales when the customer paid by a debit or credit card. The structure required the establishment of a separate company, Debenhams Card Handling Services Limited (DCHS) which was interposed between the customer and Debenhams when goods were purchased using a card. DCHS charged a fee of 2.5% of the retail price of the goods to the customer for its card handling services. The difference for Debenhams was that the card handling fee charged by DCHS was exempt from VAT and they only had to pay VAT on 97.5% of the retail price. When this was applied to the total card sales made by the company the savings became very substantial.
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Extract
Card Charges: Tax Avoidance Approved
After Debenhams, the well-known High Street retailer, took advice from its accountants, it established a structure which allowed it to avoid paying VAT on the full value of its retail sales when the customer paid by a debit or credit card. The st...
See the full content of this document
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