Month: January 2022

There are special rules to help ensure that goods sent from abroad are taxed appropriately and to ensure that UK businesses supplying goods in the UK, for example by having to compete with VAT free imports, are not disadvantaged. This includes goods that are new or used and bought online, bought abroad, and shipped to the UK and goods received as gifts.

This means that in order to receive your goods you may have to pay VAT, Customs Duty or Excise Duty if they were sent to:

• Great Britain (England, Wales and Scotland) from outside the UK
• Northern Ireland from countries outside the UK and the European Union (EU)

VAT is charged on all goods (except for gifts worth £39 or less) sent from:

• outside the UK to Great Britain
• outside the UK and the EU to Northern Ireland

Online marketplaces that are involved in facilitating the sale of goods are usually responsible for collecting and accounting for the VAT. If the VAT has not been collected, then you will have to pay VAT to the delivery company either before the goods are delivered or when you collect them.  If you have to pay VAT to the delivery company, it’s charged on the total package value which includes the value of the goods, postage, packing, insurance and any duty owed.

As a general rule, there is no Customs Duty payable on non-excise goods worth £135 or less. There are various rates payable above this level and on excise goods of any value.

The VAT Flat Rate scheme has been designed to simplify the way a business accounts for VAT and in so doing reduce the administration costs of complying with VAT legislation. Using the Flat Rate scheme, businesses pay VAT as a fixed percentage of their VAT inclusive turnover. The actual percentage used depends on the type of business.

The scheme is open to businesses that expect their annual taxable turnover in the next 12 months to be no more than £150,000, excluding VAT.

However, there are a number of anti-avoidance exclusions highlighted in HMRC’s internal manuals.

The exclusions are as follows:

• Businesses that are eligible for group treatment, or are registered for VAT as a divisional registration, at the time of application – or have been in the preceding 24 months – are excluded. This is designed to reduce the threat of exploitation by larger companies.
• Businesses that acquire or intend to acquire capital items that are covered by the capital goods scheme are excluded. Analysis showed that the treatment of FRS businesses as fully taxable presented the potential for abuse by exempt companies and this exclusion is to prevent such avoidance schemes from developing.
• Businesses that are associated – or have been in the preceding 24 months – are excluded. This is a catch-all provision to prevent avoidance and abuse.

In addition, a limited cost trader test was introduced in April 2017. If a business meets the definition of a limited cost trader, then this would usually mean it may be more beneficial to leave the scheme and account for VAT using traditional VAT accounting.