The Value Added Tax (Special Provisions) Order 1995

Relief for certain goods U.K.

12.—(1) Without prejudice to article 13 below and subject to complying with such conditions as the Commissioners may direct in a notice published by them for the purposes of this Order or may otherwise direct and subject to paragraph (4) below, where a person supplies goods of a description in paragraph (2) below, of which he took possession in any of the circumstances set out in paragraph (3) below, he may opt to account for the VAT chargeable on the supply on the profit margin(1) on the supply instead of by reference to its value.

(2) The supplies referred to in paragraph (1) above are supplies of—

(a) works of art, antiques and collectors' items;

(b) second-hand goods.

(3) The circumstances mentioned in paragraph (1) above are—

[F1 (a) that the taxable person took possession of the goods pursuant to—

(i) a supply in respect of which no VAT was chargeable under the Act or under Part I of the Manx Act;

(ii) a supply on which VAT was chargeable on the profit margin in accordance with paragraph (1) above or a corresponding provision made under the Manx Act or a corresponding provision of the law of another member State;

(iii) a transaction except one relating to the transfer of the assets of a business or part of a business as a going concern which was treated by virtue of any Order made or having effect as if made under section 5(3) of the Act or under the corresponding provisions of the Manx Act as being neither a supply of goods nor a supply of services;

(iv) a transaction relating to the transfer of the assets of a business or part of a business as a going concern which was treated as neither a supply of goods nor a supply of services if the transferor took possession of the goods in any of the circumstances described in this sub-paragraph; or

(v) (if the goods are a work of art) a supply to the taxable person by, or an acquisition from another member State by him from its creator or his successor in title;]

(b) (if the goods are a work of art, an antique or a collectors' item) that they were imported by the taxable person himself.

(4) A taxable person—

(a) may not opt under paragraph (1) above where—

(i) the supply is a letting on hire;

(ii) an invoice or similar document showing an amount as being VAT or as being attributable to VAT is issued in respect of the supply;

(iii) the supply is of an air gun unless the taxable person is registered for the purposes of the Firearms Act 1968(2); or

(iv) the supply is of goods which are being disposed of in the circumstances mentioned in article 4(1)(a)(b)(c) or (d) above but which is not disregarded by virtue of that article;

(b) may only exercise the option under paragraph (1) above in relation to supplies of—

(i) works of art of which he took possession in the circumstances mentioned in paragraph [F2 (3)(a)(v)] above, or

(ii) works of art, antiques or collectors' items of which he took possession in circumstances set out in paragraph (3)(b) above,

if at the same time he exercises the option in relation to the other.

(5) Subject to paragraph (6) below, for the purposes of determining the profit margin—

(a) the price at which goods were obtained shall be calculated as follows—

(i) (where the taxable person took possession of the goods pursuant to a supply) in the same way as the consideration for the supply would be calculated for the purposes of the Act;

(ii) (where the taxable person is a sole proprietor and the goods were supplied to him in his private capacity) in the same way as the consideration for the supply to him as a private individual would be calculated for the purposes of the Act;

(iii) (where the goods are a work of art which was acquired from another member State by the taxable person pursuant to a supply to him by the creator of the item or his successor in title) in the same way as the value of the acquisition would be calculated for the purposes of the Act plus the VAT chargeable on the acquisition;

(iv) (where the goods are a work of art, an antique or a collectors' item which the taxable person has imported himself) in the same way as the value of the goods for the purpose of charging VAT on their importation would be calculated for the purposes of the Act plus any VAT chargeable on their importation;

[F3 (v) (where the taxable person took possession of the goods pursuant to a transaction relating to the transfer of the assets of a business or part of a business as a going concern which was treated by virtue of any Order made or having effect as if made under section 5(3) of the Act, or under the corresponding provisions of the Manx Act, as neither a supply of goods nor a supply of services) as being the price at which the earliest of his predecessors obtained the goods;]

(b) the price at which goods are sold shall be calculated in the same way as the consideration for the supply would be calculated for the purposes of the Act [F4 ;

(c) in relation to any goods, a person is the predecessor of another for the purposes of this article if—

(i) that other person is a person to whom he has transferred assets of his business by a transfer of that business, or a part of it, as a going concern;

(ii) those assets consisted of or included those goods; and

(iii) the transfer of the assets is one falling by virtue of an Order made or having effect as if made under section 5(3) of the Act, or under the corresponding provisions of the Manx Act, to be treated as neither a supply of goods nor a supply of services;

and the reference in sub-paragraph (a) above to a person’s predecessors includes a reference to the predecessors of his predecessors through any number of transfers.]

(6) Subject to paragraph (7) below, where the taxable person is an agent acting in his own name the price at which the goods were obtained shall be calculated in accordance with paragraph (5)(a) above, but the selling price calculated in accordance with paragraph (5)(b) above shall be increased by the amount of any consideration payable to the taxable person in respect of services supplied by him to the purchaser in connection with the supply of the goods.

(7) Instead of calculating the price at which goods were obtained or supplied in accordance with paragraph (6) above an auctioneer acting in his own name may—

(a) calculate the price at which they were obtained by deducting from the successful bid the consideration for any services supplied by him to the vendor in connection with the sale of the goods;

(b) calculate the price at which they were supplied by adding to the successful bid the consideration for any supply of services by him to the purchaser in connection with the sale of the goods,

in either (or both) cases excluding the consideration for supplies of services that are not chargeable to VAT.

(8) Where a taxable person opts under paragraph (1) above in respect of goods of which he took possession in the circumstances set out in paragraph [F5 (3)(a)(v)] and (b) above, the exercise of the option shall—

(a) be notified by him to the Commissioners in writing;

(b) have effect from the date of that notification or such later date as may be specified therein;

(c) subject to paragraph (9) below, apply to all supplies of such goods made by the taxable person in the period ending 2 years after the date on which it first had effect or the date on which written notification of its revocation is given to the Commissioners, whichever is the later.

(9) Notwithstanding paragraph (8)(c) above a taxable person may elect to account for VAT chargeable on any particular supply of such goods by reference to the value of that supply.

Textual Amendments

F1 Art. 12(3)(a) substituted (3.7.1997) by The Value Added Tax (Special Provisions) (Amendment) Order 1997 (S.I. 1997/1616), arts. 1, 3

F2 Word in art. 12(4)(b)(i) substituted (18.3.1998) by The Value Added Tax (Special Provisions) (Amendment) Order 1998 (S.I. 1998/760), arts. 1, 5

F3 Art. 12(5)(a)(v) inserted (18.3.1998) by The Value Added Tax (Special Provisions) (Amendment) Order 1998 (S.I. 1998/760), arts. 1, 6(1)

F4 Art. 12(5)(c) added (18.3.1998) by The Value Added Tax (Special Provisions) (Amendment) Order 1998 (S.I. 1998/760), arts. 1, 6(2)

F5 Word in art. 12(8) substituted (18.3.1998) by virtue of The Value Added Tax (Special Provisions) (Amendment) Order 1998 (S.I. 1998/760), arts. 1, 5

Commencement Information

I1 Art. 12 in force at 1.6.1995, see art. 1

(1)

Profit margin is defined for these purposes in section 50A (4) of the Value Added Tax Act 1994 (c. 23) which was inserted by section 24(1) of the Finance Act 1995 (c. 4).

(2)

1968 c. 27; section 5(1) was amended by section 1 of the Firearms (Amendment) Act 1988 (c. 45).