Should a UK lawyer charge VAT on its services for administering an estate where the executor is overseas but operates via an attorney in the UK?

UK VAT is only chargeable on a supply of legal services where the supply is made in the UK. We assume that the advice does not primarily relate to a transfer of UK real estate, as in this case the supply will attract UK VAT wherever the client is located. We also assume that, for VAT purposes, the attorney ‘belongs’ in the UK and the executor ‘belongs’ outside the UK (‘belonging’ depends on factors such as a person’s place of establishment or residence, and is explained in the attached Practice Note: VAT place of supply Rules—where is a supply made?).

Determining the location of the supply depends on the identity of the client, so the first question will be whether the executor or the attorney is the UK lawyer’s client, and is therefore the recipient of the legal services. This will be a question of fact. Central to