Value Added Tax Act 1994

[F1 PART 8 U.K. Registration in respect of acquisitions from member States

Textual Amendments

F1 Schs. 9ZA, 9ZB inserted (17.12.2020 for specified purposes, 31.12.2020 in so far as not already in force) by Taxation (Post-transition Period) Act 2020 (c. 26), s. 11(1)(e), Sch. 2 para. 2 (with s. 3(4), Sch. 2 para. 7(7)-(10)) (with savings and transitional provisions in S.I. 2020/1545, Pt. 4); S.I. 2020/1642, reg. 9

Liability to be registered U.K.

38 (1) A person who— U.K.

(a) is not registered under this Act, and

(b) is not liable to be registered under Schedule 1 or 1A or Part 9 of this Schedule,

becomes liable to be registered under this Part of this Schedule at the end of any month if, in the period beginning with 1 January of the year in which that month falls, that person had made relevant acquisitions whose value exceeds [F2 £90,000].

(2) A person who is not registered or liable to be registered as mentioned in sub-paragraph (1)(a) and (b) becomes liable to be registered under this Part of this Schedule at any time if there are reasonable grounds for believing that the value of the person's relevant acquisitions in the following 30 days will exceed [F3 £90,000].

(3) A person is treated as having become liable to be registered under this Part of this Schedule at any time when the person would have become so liable under the preceding provisions of this paragraph but for any registration which is subsequently cancelled under paragraph 43(2) or 53(5) of this Schedule, paragraph 13(3) of Schedule 1, paragraph 11 of Schedule 1A or paragraph 6(2) of Schedule 3A.

(4) A person does not cease to be liable to be registered under this Part of this Schedule except in accordance with paragraph 39.

(5) In determining the value of any person⿿s relevant acquisitions for the purposes of this paragraph, so much of the consideration for any acquisition as represents any liability of the supplier, under the law of a member State, for VAT on the transaction in pursuance of which the acquisition is made, is to be disregarded.

(6) In determining the value of a person⿿s acquisitions for the purposes of sub-paragraph (1) or (2), acquisitions to which paragraph 19(6) of Schedule 9ZB (last acquisition or supply of goods before removal from Northern Ireland fiscal warehousing) applies are to be disregarded.

Textual Amendments

F2 Sum in Sch. 9ZA para. 38(1) substituted (1.4.2024) by The Value Added Tax (Increase of Registration Limits) Order 2024 (S.I. 2024/307), arts. 1, 2(3)(a)

F3 Sum in Sch. 9ZA para. 38(2) substituted (1.4.2024) by The Value Added Tax (Increase of Registration Limits) Order 2024 (S.I. 2024/307), arts. 1, 2(3)(a)

39 (1) A person who has become liable to be registered under this Part of this Schedule ceases to be so liable if at any time— U.K.

(a) the person's relevant acquisitions in the year ending with 31 December last before that time did not have a value exceeding [F4 £90,000], and

(b) the Commissioners are satisfied that the value of the person's relevant acquisitions in the year immediately following that year will not exceed [F5 £90,000].

(2) But a person does not cease to be liable to be registered under this Part of this Schedule at any time if there are reasonable grounds for believing that the value of that person⿿s relevant acquisitions in the following 30 days will exceed [F6 £90,000].

Textual Amendments

F4 Sum in Sch. 9ZA para. 39(1)(a) substituted (1.4.2024) by The Value Added Tax (Increase of Registration Limits) Order 2024 (S.I. 2024/307), arts. 1, 2(3)(b)

F5 Sum in Sch. 9ZA para. 39(1)(b) substituted (1.4.2024) by The Value Added Tax (Increase of Registration Limits) Order 2024 (S.I. 2024/307), arts. 1, 2(3)(b)

F6 Sum in Sch. 9ZA para. 39(2) substituted (1.4.2024) by The Value Added Tax (Increase of Registration Limits) Order 2024 (S.I. 2024/307), arts. 1, 2(3)(b)

Notification of liability and registration U.K.

40 (1) A person who becomes liable to be registered under this Part of this Schedule must notify the Commissioners of the liability— U.K.

(a) in the case of a liability under sub-paragraph (1) of paragraph 38, within 30 days of the end of the month when the person becomes so liable, and

(b) in the case of a liability under sub-paragraph (2) of that paragraph, before the end of the period by reference to which the liability arises.

(2) The Commissioners must register any such person (whether or not the person notifies them) with effect from the relevant time or from such earlier time as may be agreed between the Commissioners and the person.

(3) In this paragraph “the relevant time“—

(a) in a case falling within sub-paragraph (1)(a), means the end of the month following the month at the end of which the liability arose, and

(b) in a case falling within sub-paragraph (1)(b), means the beginning of the period by reference to which the liability arose.

Entitlement to be registered etc U.K.

41 (1) Where a person who is not liable to be registered under this Act and is not already so registered satisfies the Commissioners that the person makes relevant acquisitions, the Commissioners must, if the person so requests, register the person with effect from the day on which the request is made or from such earlier date as may be agreed between the Commissioners and the person. U.K.

(2) Where a person who is not liable to be registered under this Act and is not already so registered—

(a) satisfies the Commissioners that the person intends to make relevant acquisitions from a specified date, and

(b) requests to be registered under this Part of this Schedule,

the Commissioners may, subject to such conditions as they think fit to impose, register the person with effect from such date as may be agreed between the Commissioners and the person.

(3) Conditions imposed under sub-paragraph (2) may—

(a) be so imposed wholly or partly by reference to, or without reference to, any conditions prescribed for the purposes of this paragraph, and

(b) be subsequently varied by the Commissioners (whenever the conditions were imposed).

(4) Where a person who is entitled to be registered under paragraph 9 or 10 of Schedule 1 requests registration under this paragraph, the person is to be registered under that Schedule, and not under this Part of this Schedule.

Notification of matters affecting continuance of registration U.K.

42 (1) Any person registered under this Part of this Schedule who ceases to be registrable under this Act must notify the Commissioners of that fact within 30 days of the day on which the person ceases to be registrable. U.K.

(2) A person registered under paragraph 41(2) must notify the Commissioners, within 30 days of the first occasion after the person's registration when the person makes a relevant acquisition, that the person has made that acquisition.

(3) For the purposes of this paragraph a person ceases to be registrable under this Act where—

(a) the person ceases to be a person who would be liable or entitled to be registered under this Act if the person's registration and any enactment preventing a person from being liable to be registered under different provisions at the same time were disregarded, or

(b) in the case of a person who (having been registered under paragraph 41(2)) has not been such a person during the period of the person's registration, the person ceases to have any intention of making relevant acquisitions.

Cancellation of registration U.K.

43 (1) Where a person registered under this Part of this Schedule satisfies the Commissioners that the person is not liable to be so registered, the Commissioners must, if the person so requests, cancel that registration with effect from the day on which the request is made or from such later date as may be agreed between the Commissioners and the person. U.K.

(2) Where the Commissioners are satisfied that a person registered under this Part of this Schedule has ceased since the person's registration to be registrable under this Part of this Schedule, they may cancel that registration with effect from the day on which the person so ceased or from such later date as may be agreed between the Commissioners and the person.

(3) Where the Commissioners are satisfied that a person who has been registered under paragraph 41(2) and is not for the time being liable to be registered under this Part of this Schedule—

(a) has not begun, by the date specified in the person's request to be registered, to make relevant acquisitions, or

(b) has contravened any condition of the person's registration,

the Commissioners may cancel the person's registration with effect from the date so specified or, as the case may be, the date of the contravention or from such later date as may be agreed between the Commissioners and the person.

(4) But the Commissioners may not, under sub-paragraph (1), (2) or (3), cancel a person⿿s registration with effect from any time unless the Commissioners are satisfied that it is not a time when that person would be subject to a requirement, or in a case falling under sub-paragraph (2) or (3) a requirement or entitlement, to be registered under this Act.

(5) Where the Commissioners are satisfied that, on the day on which a person was registered under this Part of this Schedule, the person—

(a) was not registrable under this Part of this Schedule, and

(b) in the case of a person registered under paragraph 41(2), did not have the intention by reference to which the person was registered,

the Commissioners may cancel that registration with effect from that day.

(6) The registration of a person who—

(a) is registered under paragraph 41, or

(b) would not, if the person were not registered, be liable or entitled to be registered under any provision of this Act except that paragraph,

may not be cancelled with effect from any time before 1 January which is, or next follows, the second anniversary of the date on which the person's registration took effect.

(7) But sub-paragraph (6) does not apply to cancellation under sub-paragraph (3) or (5).

(8) In determining, for the purposes of sub-paragraphs (4) and (6), whether a person would be subject to a requirement, or would be entitled, to be registered at any time, so much of any provision of this Act as prevents a person from becoming liable or entitled to be registered when the person is already registered or when the person is so liable under any other provision is to be disregarded.

(9) For the purposes of this paragraph, a person is registrable under this Part of this Schedule at any time when the person is liable to be registered under this Part of this Schedule or is a person who makes relevant acquisitions.

Exemption from registration U.K.

44 (1) Where a person who makes or intends to make relevant acquisitions satisfies the Commissioners that any such acquisition would be an acquisition in pursuance of a transaction which would be zero-rated if it were a taxable supply by a taxable person, the Commissioners may, if the person so requests and the Commissioners think fit, exempt the person from registration under this Part of this Schedule until it appears to the Commissioners that the request should no longer be acted upon or is withdrawn. U.K.

(2) Where a person who is exempted under this paragraph from registration under this Part of this Schedule makes any relevant acquisition in pursuance of any transaction which would, if it were a taxable supply by a taxable person, be chargeable to VAT otherwise than as a zero-rated supply, the person must notify the Commissioners of the change within 30 days of the date the acquisition was made.

Power to vary specified sums by regulations U.K.

45 U.K. The Treasury may by regulations substitute for any of the sums for the time being specified in this Part of this Schedule such greater sums as the Treasury consider appropriate.

Notifications U.K.

46 U.K. Any notification required under this Part of this Schedule must be made in such form and manner and must contain such particulars as may be specified in regulations or by the Commissioners in accordance with regulations.

Meaning of relevant [F7 acquisition] U.K.

Textual Amendments

F7 Word in Sch. 9ZA para. 47 cross-heading substituted (1.8.2021) by The Value Added Tax (Miscellaneous Amendments and Repeals) (EU Exit) Regulations 2021 (S.I. 2021/714), regs. 1, 7(2) (as amended by S.I. 2021/779, regs. 1, 2)

47 U.K. For the purposes of this Part of this Schedule “relevant acquisition” means an acquisition that—

(a) is a taxable acquisition (see paragraph 2(2)) of goods other than goods which are subject to a duty of excise or consist in a new means of transport, and

(b) is otherwise than in pursuance of a taxable supply and is treated, for the purposes of this Act, as taking place in Northern Ireland.]