Court of Appeal: HMRC Wins Appeal on Travel Agents’ VAT Scheme and Private Hire Services

• The Court of Appeal allowed HMRC’s appeal in HMRC v Bolt Services UK Ltd [2026] EWCA Civ 720, holding that Bolt’s on-demand private hire/mini-cab services do not fall within the Special Scheme for Travel Agents.
• This overturned the FTT and UT, which had previously found Bolt’s services were analogous to travel agent or tour operator supplies under the VAT scheme.
• The Court said the scheme is aimed at the travel/tour operator sector, especially where multiple or cross-border services create VAT practical difficulties, and Bolt’s point-to-point rides were not the same as or similar to those services.
• Although CJEU case law can extend the scheme to businesses making “identical or at least comparable” transactions, that rationale did not apply here and was not needed to protect the scheme’s purpose or uniformity.
• The decision suggests private hire vehicle businesses generally cannot rely on the scheme unless they can show their services are genuinely comparable to those of travel agents or tour operators.

Source: rpclegal.com

Note that this post was (partially) written with the help of AI. It is always useful to review the original source material, and where needed to obtain (local) advice from a specialist.

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