VAT on international work?

[Pot Bellied Fool]

Just had a quick scan through the VAT Guide but not entirely sure...

What would be the position on my doing work in a Non-EU Country (Egypt), the work is a service rather than supply of goods and would all be carried out on site (well, there may be some report writing etc done back at base but I suggest we ignore that for now).

But the bill would be paid by a UK business.

So vat or no-vat?

[Eric Mc]

The key to Zero Rating services supplied overseas is "the place of supply of the service" and "the location of the paying customer".

These facts can be quite tricky to establish. You need to chat with a VAT specialist and/or speak to the VAT office and obtain a written ruling from them on the correct VAT treatment.

[Pot Bellied Fool]

Thanks Eric, I thought the the customer being UK based might confuse the issue so if it goes ahead I'll seek confirmation. In the meantime I'll make sure my quote is worded appropriately.

Many thanks.

[Leftie]

Does anyone where Jersey stands in this? I am about to sell a day over there and wil have accomodation and taxis to recharge to them, to which in the UK I would normally add VAT, and then reclaim the VAT I have paid.

[Eric Mc]

The Channel Islands are outside the EU. Any goods or services purchased there will not have any VAT on those costs - so there is no VAT to reclaim.

Selling goods to any of the Channel Islands comes under the same rules as selling goods to any non-EU based customers. The Supply of Service rules should also be the same as those in place for Supply of Service to non-EU customers.

However, be aware that the UK government has been looking very carefully at how Channel Island based companies have been making use of their non-EU status to undercut UK based operations - particularly regarding internet based sales of DVDs, CDs and other such products.

[stumartin]

Eric - do you ever have time to earn fees outside of your role as PH's resident tax adviser?