North of England Zoological Society v Commissioners of Customs and Excise
| Jurisdiction | England & Wales |
| Judgment Date | 04 October 1999 |
| Date | 04 October 1999 |
| Court | Queen's Bench Division |
Queen's Bench Division (Crown Office List).
Carnwath J.
Andrew Hitchmough (instructed by Arnhem Tite & Lewis) for the appellant.
Philippa Whipple (instructed by the Solicitor for Customs and Excise) for the Crown.
The following cases were referred to in the judgment:
C & E Commrs v Civil Service Motoring Association TAX[1998] BTC 5003
IR Commrs v McMullen ELR[1981] AC 1
Lopes, Re ELR[1931] 2 Ch 130
North of England Zoological Society v Chester Rural District CouncilWLR[1959] 1 WLR 773
Value added tax - Exemption - Education - Zoo - Whether admission charges were consideration for provision of education - Value Added Tax Act 1994 schedule 9 group 6Value Added Tax Act 1994, Sch. 9, Grp. 6, item 1; Sixth Council directive (Directive 77/388) of 17 May 1977 (OJ 1977 L145/1), eu-directive 77/388 article 13(A)(1)art. 13(A)(1)(i).
This was an appeal by the North of England Zoological Society ("the society") from a decision of the VAT and duties tribunal ([1999] BVC 2015) that admission charges to Chester Zoo were not consideration for the provision of education and thus were not exempt from VAT.
The society was a charitable body which ran Chester Zoo. Its stated aims included conservation and education of the public. Its education division employed six full-time persons engaged on education work and 119 specially trained volunteers to assist the full-time staff when needed.
The VAT tribunal decided that the society did not make supplies of education within the meaning of the Value Added Tax Act 1994 schedule 9 group 6Value Added Tax Act 1994, Sch. 9, Grp. 6, item 1 construed in the light of eu-directive 77/388 article 13(A)(1)art. 13(A)(1)(i) of the sixth VAT directive. The admission charges made by the society were not therefore VAT exempt.
Held, dismissing the society's appeal:
The word "education" could be used in different senses. It could be used in the general sense of broadening the mind and also in the narrower sense of a specific and formal training of some kind achieved by a course or class of instruction. In the context of the VAT legislation the narrower sense applied. Accordingly the society did not come within the exemption: North of England Zoological Society v Chester Rural District Council WLR[1959] 1 WLR 773 distinguished.
Carnwath J: This is an appeal brought by the North of England Zoological Society against the decision of the VAT and duties tribunal, sitting in Manchester in August 1998. The question is whether the Zoological Society was supplying "education", in consideration of the admission fees paid by visitors, for the purposes of VAT legislation. The facts were fully set out in the decision and there is no challenge to the findings of primary fact. It is, therefore, sufficient to summarise some of the main points.
The appellant operates the Chester Zoo, which is perhaps the largest in northern England. It contains a wide variety of animals, birds and fishes, all of which are housed in ideal conditions and cared for to the highest standards. The zoo guide says:
The zoo is run to support and promote conservation by breeding rare and endangered animals, by excellent animal welfare, high quality public service, recreation, education and science.
The guide also refers to the role of the education division in explaining the zoo's work to the public, the aim being:
…to improve knowledge and awareness so that visitors can experience and learn about the richness of the animal kingdom.
Although those are extracts from the zoo's own guide, the tribunal accepted that the society aimed to, and did, achieve the high standards of conservation set out in its mission statement, as summarised in its guide.
The education division employs six persons on full-time education work, and they are assisted by 119 volunteer helpers, who assist the full-time employees when visitor numbers so require. The education division also runs a reference library, two craft centres, a special shop and what are called "experience carts".
The zoo's director is quoted in the guide as saying:
Conservation is our prime purpose … [He continues:] Underpinning all of this conservation activity is public education. We want our visitors - all 800,000 or more - to see and support what we do. There is a vigorous interpretation programme with animal and plant identification labels and more detailed information. Multi-media facilities are being developed to provide stimulating, accurate and up-to-date information. A CD Rom is being prepared. We have a programme to help the visually handicapped with tactile maps plus an audio tour.
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