When is a delivery firm not a delivery firm?It sounds like a joke, but the owner of Delivery Xtreme, with 18 franchises in three provinces, is not laughing.CEO Cornel Wilsch says he faces ruin after a tax court ordered him to hand over VAT on money paid to drivers.The court, sitting in the Cape Town High Court, said Delivery Xtreme's claim that it was not a delivery company, and should therefore not pay VAT on delivery fees, was "inconsistent with the facts".Wilsch, of Cape Town - who operates in Gauteng, the Western Cape and KwaZulu-Natal - said the judgment meant he would have to hand over R650000 plus penalties and up to seven years' interest, as well as SARS' costs."It has crippled me. I don't know which way to turn," he said yesterday. "It's as unfair as unfair can possibly be."Wilsch said the business had 250 drivers, whom it regards as independent contractors, and about 60 staff.After an audit by SARS for 2009-2011, Delivery Xtreme received a demand for VAT on the "petrol money" it itemises on its bills and which goes directly to drivers.When its appeal to the tax board was declined, it turned to the tax court, where it said it made no profit from deliveries, relying only on commission of about 20% from the restaurants whose food it delivered.In his judgment on Tuesday Judge Ashley Binns-Ward said that by compelling drivers to wear a Delivery Xtreme uniform and introduce themselves as its representatives, the company undermined his case."The central significance of the delivery service to the business is reflected in its trading name," he said. "If it were not for its delivery service component, the business could not possibly function."Wilsch said a tax audit in 2008 raised no objection to the way the company handled drivers' petrol money."SARS seems more interested in closing down businesses than in sustaining and creating jobs," he said. ..