Suppliers charging VAT on zero rated products.

Suppliers charging VAT on zero rated products.

Author
Discussion

megaphone

Original Poster:

10,696 posts

250 months

Tuesday 18th November 2014
quotequote all
How does this work? I went to buy some safety boots yesterday, all prices were plus VAT. When I challenged the shop assistant they new nothing about the zero rating on protective boots. Anyone know why? Are the suppliers pulling a fast one? Or are HMRC getting VAT on products they should not?

https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/vat-not...

http://www.arco.co.uk/browse/Footwear/Men's%20Safe...



Edited by megaphone on Tuesday 18th November 06:16

Eric Mc

121,785 posts

264 months

Tuesday 18th November 2014
quotequote all
Is your business VAT registered?

nookiemon

51 posts

146 months

Tuesday 18th November 2014
quotequote all
For that supplier to be elligible to sell the boots with zero VAT they need to meet the following conditions:

Condition Description Further information
1 The articles must be boots or helmets paragraph 2.2
2 They must be manufactured to the appropriate European or British standard paragraphs 2.3 to 2.5
3 They must bear a mark indicating conformity with those standards paragraphs 2.3 to 2.5
4 They must be for industrial use paragraph 2.6
5 They must not be supplied to persons for use by their employees paragraph 2.7

Having a quick look at the boots sold on the site it looks like they conform to these rules and should be zero rated. If this is the case the supplier seems to be charging VAT making their boots more expensive to buy if the buyer is not VAT registered.

If you wanted to get them cheaper, would be no harm in dropping them a line, and for them to explain why they are charging VAT when it looks like they shouldn't need to.

megaphone

Original Poster:

10,696 posts

250 months

Tuesday 18th November 2014
quotequote all
The boots are for me, I'm not personally VAT registered.

It's not just the supplier I linked to above, other suppliers I checked are charging VAT. Although there does appear to be a grey area between boots and shoes, maybe some don't actually meet the criteria.

eg

http://www.screwfix.com/c/safety-workwear/safety-s...

http://www.screwfix.com/c/safety-workwear/safety-b...

I did challenge the shop assistant at Arco, they just gave me a blank look and shrugged their shoulders. I will contact their office and ask as all their prices where plus VAT.


gregf40

1,114 posts

115 months

Tuesday 18th November 2014
quotequote all
The VAT laws are too complicated, especially for small businesses - so shops just charge 20% whether they should or not and hand it over to HMRC.

I recently bought something from a FTSE250 company online which was being shipped by them outside the EU to a friend.

I messaged them asking for the 20% VAT to be refunded as it should have never been charged and they said it was my responsibility to claim it back from HMRC (which isn't the case).