Thinking of cancelling O2 contract... do i have to pay VAT on remainder?

mickym

I have read before that some people have been able to cancel their phone contract and not have to pay VAT for the remainder of their contract.

I took out a new 24month contract out in June as it was a good deal with topcashback that meant i got the phone cheap.

If i can cancel and not pay VAT then it will be a better deal for me.

Would anyone be able to shed any light on this for me?

Thanks

grumbler

Paying off contract early....

Are you sure that "VAT" you would have saved is bigger than the cost of the airtime you have to buy elsewhere?

mickym

I bought the phone on contract on a very cheap o2 deal at £13 per month, that reduced down to £10 per month when i removed a bolt on...including the £111 topcashback discount it made the phone much cheaper than if i bought it outright sim free.

I currently dont us the o2 sim at all...and use a three sim for my own use.

mickym

That link doesnt seem to clear up much other than it seems to be the discression of the company to whether you have to pay vat on the reminder.

Has anyone challenged this with O2 and been successful?

Thanks

grumbler

I am pretty sure that nobody has challenged them yet. You can make the history.

mrchagle

mickym wrote: »

I bought the phone on contract on a very cheap o2 deal at £13 per month, that reduced down to £10 per month when i removed a bolt on...including the £111 topcashback discount it made the phone much cheaper than if i bought it outright sim free.

I currently dont us the o2 sim at all...and use a three sim for my own use.

I did the same. I have a o2 SIM that I don't use. I got cash back and a very cheap phone. I have the money to pay it off.. from the cash back.. but again like you not to sure if they would include VAT.

stulaunch

mrchagle wrote: »

I did the same. I have a o2 SIM that I don't use. I got cash back and a very cheap phone. I have the money to pay it off.. from the cash back.. but again like you not to sure if they would include VAT.

Same here.
But previous replies have suggested they do charge VAT.
would be interested to see legality of charging VAT on services that haven't been supplied.

mickym

grumbler wrote: »

I am pretty sure that nobody has challenged them yet. You can make the history.

Would love to take them on but with mny personal things going on at the moment i cant be adding to my list of things to do.. also the £10 a week rather than lump sum is coming in handy at the moment.

mobilejunkie

All very strange! £312 - £111 = £201. Must be an expensive phone - and not much use without a bundle. Cashback deals with a good bundle would have cost about £24 (or given a profit if the phone that came with it was sold for more) and buying a phone (or waiting a year until that one dropped in value like a stone) would have meant no cost on another contract or PAYG. The VAT wouldn't make a huge difference to this large cost, although the reduction in tariff would make a small dent.

Maybe I'm missing something. Perhaps you all like to put the phone on the mantlepiece and not actually USE it for calls, texts and internet? A museum, perhaps - or a false idle?

mickym

Samsung Galaxy S II when it first launched.

Sim Free was £400 (this was a limited offer by O2 at the time, and most outlets were selling sim fre around £500).

I got 24 month contract at £13.50pm.

- 50 minutes
- 250 texts
- 100mb internet

The internet bolt on could be removed after 3 months.

so

£13.50 x 3 = £40.50

£10.00 x 21 = £210

Sub-Total = £250.50

+

One off Handset price = £150

Deal Total = £400.50

Top Cashback = £100

Grand Total = £300.

A good deal to me