Getting your teeth straightened with Invisalign is about to become more expensive.

Generally, medical treatments are exempt from VAT. Specifically, “dental prostheses” are exempt in the legislation, which is why historically VAT wasn’t charged on aligners.

The Upper Tier Tribunal has overturned the First Tier Tribunal, concluding that “dental prostheses” do not include aligners like Invisalign*. The court ruled that “dental prostheses” means artificial items which replace missing or damaged teeth.

This means that suppliers to dentists will now have to charge 20% VAT on aligners, which will inevitably be passed on to the customer.

Unsurprisingly, the British Orthodontic Society is not happy about it. They put out a statement “Tax policy should support, rather than hinder, the provision of high-quality and accessible orthodontic treatment”.

The case highlights how meanings in tax can be different from normal parlance. For example, if a husband lives in New Zealand and his wife lives in the UK and they meet once a year they are deemed ‘living together’ for tax purposes.