Is it just me or is notice 744a section 2.1 plain misleading/wrong when it says
Zero-rated transport
You can zero rate the transport of passengers:
in any vehicle, ship or aircraft designed or adapted to carry not less than 10 passengers to the extent those services are supplied in the UK — see section 4
i would say the driver isnt a passenger so imho this is plain misleading.
Thankfully section 4 - has wording that makes sense but i suspect some might read section 2.1 and presume 9 passengers and 1 driver would not qualify for zero rating and go off on their merry way when section 4 confirms that 10 total seats is fine and dandy ref zero rating.
4.1 Circumstances where you can zero rate domestic passenger transport
You can zero rate domestic passenger transport in any vehicle, ship or aircraft that has at least 10 seats, including those for the driver and crew, unless the supplies are exceptions from the zero rates — see section 8.
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FWIW I think paragraph 2.1 is correct and paragraph 4 wrong. The VAT act states "not less than 10 passengers"
Always read all of the Notice.
You're right, the guidance is not specific until much later on and by then most people will have switched off, happy with their (incorrect) answer.
HMRC internal manuals are often more helpful but not so easy to search for on the HMRC website (use Google) and the internal manuals are what most HRMC officers use for their knowledge.
https://www.gov.uk/hmrc-internal-manuals/vat-transport/vtrans020500 says "Item 4(a) zero-rates passenger transport within the UK in any vehicle, ship or aircraft designed or adapted to carry ten or more passengers. (The driver and crew are treated as passengers for the purposes of determining the carrying capacity.)" so even the manuals repeat the "error" of saying passengers when they really mean seats.
The legislation refers to passengers, HMRC seem to have interpreted that as including the driver, I could say that we are all passengers in the great journey of life, not sure that'd work at a tax tribunal though.
A simple tax.