Avios Hotels – Won’t provide VAT Receipt/Invoice

[wookie192]

Hello,

I recently booked a hotel via Avios Hotels to take up on their double Avios promotion, that booking has been completed and i need to get a VAT invoice for the booking. I’ve spoke with the hotel directly and they’ve sent me a VAT invoice, but the amount charged is different to what I’ve paid. Probably because Avios/Expedia have added their fees/cut to it.

I spoke with Avios today to get them to send me a VAT invoice for the amount i was charged, but they’re saying that they don’t provide VAT invoices as bookings via Avios Hotels are for leisure only (first time I’ve been made aware of this). Three questions from me:

1) Can Avios Group legally deny me a VAT invoice/receipt?
2) Has anyone had the same issue?
3) Have i missed anything obvious to say business bookings are not accepted on Avios Hotels?

I’m not sure if to now just give-up and use the VAT receipt the hotel has provided directly and take the £81.32 hit, or if to fight it and get Avios to give me a VAT receipt. Any help/suggestions would be much appreciated.

Thank you.

EDIT: Just to add, i need the VAT receipt/invoice so that i can expense the amount with my place of work.

[The real Swiss Tony]

Yes, consider yourself lucky they have issued a VAT invoice at all. Take the hit and move on.

Tour operators are exempt (/outwith scope/whatever other phrase as I’m 99% sure a pedant will be along shortly) from VAT and instead pay something called the Tour Operators Margin Scheme (TOMS), which you as a business can’t recover.

The tour operator can opt out of TOMS for B2B sales but they have to be set up for that. So the “Avios isn’t for business travel” line isn’t quite correct but is probably a stock shorthand response.

Funny how often I see an OTA selling rooms for 17% less than the hotel directly….

Edit to add – I assume the hotel is in the UK, as otherwise there’s no VAT to recover anyway & that’s down to you to debate with your accounting department.

[memesweeper]

Although some businesses like to claim that they do not sell to businesses, and thus don’t need to provide a VAT receipt, they are obliged to do if the purchaser is a VAT-registered business. This includes VAT-registered sole traders. They can’t refuse unless they are not registered for VAT or are supplying VAT exempt goods. Hint: AFAIK they have no way of checking if you are VAT registered sole trader.

You may end up with a piece of paper that confirms no VAT was levied as they bought something (your hotel stay) from Expedia USA. The last time I got into a row with a reseller of OTA bookings about VAT receipts that’s what I got.

I am not a lawyer or tax expert.

Why HMRC couldn’t just clean up the law and require all UK tax-paying entities to provide receipts (showing, or not, VAT and showing, or not, their VAT registration number) to anyone who asks is beyond me.

[Sandgrounder]

Havr a read of this, especially 3.1, 3.2, 3.3 & in particular 4.19.
https://www.gov.uk/guidance/tour-operators-margin-scheme-for-vat-notice-7095#sect-419

[masaccio]

Well IAG’s Avios group does see VAT somewhat differently to HMRC, so there’s that 😝