Value Added Tax Act 1994

[F1 55A Customers to account for tax on supplies of goods [F2 or services] of a kind used in missing trader F3 ... fraud U.K.

(1) Subsection (3) applies if—

(a) a taxable (but not a zero-rated) supply of goods [F2 or services] (“the relevant supply”) is made to a person (“the recipient”),

(b) the relevant supply is of goods [F2 or services] to which this section applies (see subsection (9)),

(c) the relevant supply is not an excepted supply (see subsection (10)), and

(d) the total value of the relevant supply, and of corresponding supplies made to the recipient in the month in which the relevant supply is made, exceeds £1,000 (“the disregarded amount”).

(2) For this purpose a “corresponding supply” means a taxable (but not a zero-rated) supply of goods [F2 or services] which—

(a) is a supply of goods [F2 or services] to which this section applies, and

(b) is not an excepted supply.

(3) The relevant supply, and the corresponding supplies made to the recipient in the month in which the relevant supply is made, are to be treated for the purposes of [F4 Schedules 1 and 1A]—

(a) as taxable supplies of the recipient (as well as taxable supplies of the person making them), and

(b) in so far as the recipient is supplied in connection with the carrying on by him of any business, as supplies made by him in the course or furtherance of that business,

but the relevant supply, and those corresponding supplies, are to be so treated only in so far as their total value exceeds the disregarded amount.

(4) Nothing in subsection (3)(b) requires any supply to be disregarded for the purposes of Schedule 1 on the grounds that it is a supply of capital assets of the recipient's business.

(5) For the purposes of subsections (1) and (3), the value of a supply is determined on the basis that no VAT is chargeable on the supply.

(6) If—

(a) a taxable person makes a supply of goods [F2 or services] to a person (“the recipient”) at any time,

(b) the supply is of goods [F2 or services] to which this section applies and is not an excepted supply, and

(c) the recipient is a taxable person at that time and is supplied in connection with the carrying on by him of any business,

it is for the recipient, on the supplier's behalf, to account for and pay tax on the supply and not for the supplier.

(7) The relevant enforcement provisions apply for the purposes of this section, in relation to any person required under subsection (6) to account for and pay any VAT, as if that VAT were VAT on a supply made by him.

(8) For this purpose “the relevant enforcement provisions” means so much of—

(a) this Act and any other enactment, and

(b) any subordinate legislation,

as has effect for the purposes of, or in connection with the enforcement of, any obligation to account for and pay VAT.

(9) For the purposes of this section, goods[F2 or services] are goods [F2 or services]to which this section applies if they are of a description specified in an order made by the Treasury.

[F5 (9A) An order made under subsection (9) may modify the application of subsection (3) in relation to any description of goods or services specified in the order.]

(10) For the purposes of this section, an “excepted supply” means a supply which is of a description specified in, or determined in accordance with, provision contained in an order made by the Treasury.

(11) Any order made under subsection (10) may describe a supply of goods [F2 or services] by reference to—

(a) the use which has been made of the goods [F2 or services], or

(b) other matters unrelated to the characteristics of the goods [F2 or services] themselves.

(12) The Treasury may by order substitute for the sum for the time being specified in subsection (1)(d) such greater sum as they think fit.

(13) The Treasury may by order make such amendments of any provision of this Act as they consider necessary or expedient for the purposes of this section or in connection with this section.

An order under this subsection may confer power on the Commissioners to make regulations or exercise any other function, but no order may be made under this subsection on or after 22nd March 2009.

(14) Any order made under this section (other than one under subsection (12)) may—

(a) make different provision for different cases, and

(b) contain supplementary, incidental, consequential or transitional provisions.]

Textual Amendments

F1 S. 55A inserted (1.6.2007) by Finance Act 2006 (c. 25), s. 19(1)(8); S.I. 2007/1419, art. 2

F2 Words in s. 55A inserted (8.4.2010) by Finance Act 2010 (c. 13), s. 50(1)

F3 Words in s. 55A omitted (31.12.2020) by virtue of Taxation (Cross-border Trade) Act 2018 (c. 22), s. 57(3), Sch. 8 para. 55 (with Sch. 8 para. 99) (with savings and transitional provisions in S.I. 2019/105 (as amended by S.I. 2020/1495, regs. 1(2), 21), S.I. 2020/1545, Pt. 4 and 2020 c. 26, Sch. 2 para. 7(7)-(9)); S.I. 2020/1642, reg. 4(b) (with reg. 7)

F4 Words in s. 55A(3) substituted (with effect in accordance with Sch. 28 para. 19 of the amending Act) by Finance Act 2012 (c. 14), Sch. 28 para. 6

F5 S. 55A(9A) inserted (12.2.2019) by Finance Act 2019 (c. 1), s. 51

Modifications etc. (not altering text)

C1 S. 55A applied (1.7.2014) by The Value Added Tax (Section 55A) (Specified Goods and Excepted Supplies) Order 2014 (S.I. 2014/1458), arts. 1(2), 3(1), 4 (with art. 1(2))

C2 S. 55A applied (with effect in accordance with art. 1(2) of the amending S.I.) by The Value Added Tax (Section 55A) (Specified Services and Excepted Supplies) Order 2016 (S.I. 2016/12), arts. 1(2), 3(1)

C3 S. 55A applied (with effect in accordance with art. 1(2) of the amending S.I.) by The Value Added Tax (Section 55A) (Specified Services) Order 2019 (S.I. 2019/1015), arts. 1(2), 3, 4 (as amended (31.12.2021) by S.I. 2019/1346, reg. 11(2))

C4 S. 55A applied (1.10.2020) by The Value Added Tax (Section 55A) (Specified Services and Excepted Supplies) Order 2019 (S.I. 2019/892), arts. 1(2), 3(1), 4 (as amended by S.I. 2019/1240, arts. 1, 2)

C5 S. 55A(3) excluded (1.10.2020) by The Value Added Tax (Section 55A) (Specified Services and Excepted Supplies) Order 2019 (S.I. 2019/892), arts. 1(2), 10 (as amended by S.I. 2019/1240, arts. 1, 2)