A skin clinic has lost their fight with the HMRC to have BOTOX® procedures exempt from VAT.
The clinic claimed that administering BOTOX® was a medical procedure, as it was carried out by medical professionals. On this basis, the clinic said that they should not have to charge value added tax on botulinum toxin injections.
The case went to a specialist tax tribunal. After consideration of the arguments, the judge Jeanette Zaman ruled in favour of HMRC and dismissed the company’s appeal. She said that she was not satisfied that the main purpose of injectable treatments was medical – i.e., to ‘protect, restore or maintain’ health – but instead was primarily for cosmetic purposes, which is clearly vatable.
VAT and Aesthetics
Non-surgical treatments are in many ways considered a medical procedure. They involve injections and, in the case of wrinkle-relaxing injections, a prescription-only medicine – botulinum toxin (or BOTOXª). At SkinViva Training Academy, we take the medical aspect very seriously and only train suitably qualified candidates.
However, when it comes to tax, cosmetic treatments are classified as non-medical. This means that vat must be paid for companies that reach the threshold, which is currently a turnover of £85,000.
Some companies choose to register early for VAT – see our article VAT Registration for Medical Aesthetic Practitioners for more information on the merits and downsides of early VAT registration.
Aesthetic Practitioners in Business
Many people entering aesthetics find the business side slightly daunting. If you’ve only worked for the NHS, the commercial aspects of running your own company are often completely new.
Most of us start small and you don’t need to answer everything all at once. SkinViva Training provide resources aimed at new practitioners. You might find the following useful:
- Business Building Guide
- Business Setup Checklist
- Free 20 Point Business Plan
- Profitability Calculator Tool
If you do a course with SkinViva Training Academy, you can access ongoing support and advice from our friendly team and our exclusive Facebook closed group/forum, where delegates can openly discuss anything with their peers from techniques and supplies to accounting and business questions.
Your first course is only the beginning – SkinViva Training stays with you every step of the way.
SkinViva Training Academy Manchester
SkinViva Training Ltd offer a range of professional training courses for cosmetic and medical skin treatments.
Their courses in cosmetic treatments directed at suitably qualified and registered medical professionals who wish to learn and build on their skills in delivering these procedures.
See our full list of forthcoming training course dates.
SkinViva Training Academy was established in 2013 by Dr Tim Pearce MBChB BSc (Hons) MRCGP – learn more about us. The SkinViva Training Academy team upholds high standards of clinical training providing a combination of fully-supervised practical experience together with essential theory.
For further information, to discuss which course is right for you, to enquire about availability or to book a training course please call 0161 850 2491, or email info@skinvivatraining.com.