Value Added Tax Act 1994

Meaning of “exempt land”: eligible purposes U.K.

[F1 16. (1) This paragraph explains what is meant for the purposes of paragraph 15 by a person occupying land for eligible purposes.

(2) A person cannot occupy land at any time for eligible purposes unless the person is a taxable person at that time (but this rule is qualified by sub-paragraphs (5) and (6)).

(3) A taxable person occupies land for eligible purposes so far as the occupation is for the purpose of making creditable supplies (but this rule is qualified by sub-paragraphs (5) to (7)).

(4) “Creditable supplies” means supplies which—

(a) are or are to be made in the course or furtherance of a business carried on by the person, and

(b) are supplies of such a description that the person would be entitled to a credit for any input tax wholly attributable to those supplies.

(5) Any occupation of land by a body to which section 33 applies (local authorities etc) is occupation of the land for eligible purposes so far as the occupation is for purposes other than those of a business carried on by the body.

(6) Any occupation of land by a Government department (within the meaning of section 41) is occupation of the land for eligible purposes.

F2 (7) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

(8) If a person occupying land—

(a) holds the land in order to put it to use for particular purposes, and

(b) does not occupy it for any other purpose,

the person is treated for the purposes of this paragraph, for so long as the conditions in paragraphs (a) and (b) continue to be met, as occupying the land for the purposes for which the person proposes to use it.

(9) If land is in the occupation of a person (“A”) who—

(a) is not a taxable person, but

(b) is a person whose supplies are treated for the purposes of this Act as made by another person (“B”) who is a taxable person,

the land is treated for the purposes of this paragraph as if A and B were a single taxable person.

(10) For the purposes of this paragraph a person occupies land—

(a) whether the person occupies it alone or together with one or more other persons, and

(b) whether the person occupies all of the land or only part of it.]

Textual Amendments

F1 Sch. 10 substituted (with effect in accordance with art. 1(2) of the amending S.I.) by The Value Added Tax (Buildings and Land) Order 2008 (S.I. 2008/1146), arts. 1(1), 2 (with Sch. 2)

F2 Sch. 10 para. 16(7) omitted (with effect in accordance with art. 2 of the amending S.I.) by virtue of The Value Added Tax (Buildings and Land) Order 2011 (S.I. 2011/86), arts. 1, 7