Horse race betting winnings were held to be a standard rated taxable supply by the Appellant when he made a voluntary disclosure for overpaid input tax. 

This case concerns a business that originally ran a premium rate horse racing ‘tipster’s line’.  As the demand for the service declined the Appellant started placing bets himself and was so successful that the bookmakers initially restricted the amount of money that he could bet with them and then stopped taking his bets altogether, so he arranged for a group of people to place bets on his behalf.  In error he accounted for VAT on his winnings but HMRC refused to repay his voluntary disclosure for overpaid output tax.

The Appellant used a number of methods to approach prospective punters.  Initially he wrote directly to personal contacts and people who were