Caravan Tax - really need help please?

missminx

Not sure if this is the right place, but hoping that someone can help.

We purchased a static caravan several years ago, and I need to chase the paper work for the original purchase to check if there was VAT on it. However we sold it last year, and they added VAT to the sale. REading about the new caravan tax it says that static caravans have been exempt from tax since the 1970's.
"The sale of caravan holiday homes have been exempt from VAT since 1973 but the Chancellor George Osborne had earmarked the tax to be reintroduced from October 1 2012." is from BBC website today.

Does this mean VAT should not have been added to the sale of our caravan?

Owain_Moneysaver

who added VAT to the sale?

You can only charge VAT if you're registered for VAT, which is if your turnover in the previous 12 months is more than the current registration threshold of £77,000. A one-off sale of a caravan, even if more than that, wouldn't make you liable to VAT.

There may be VAT on pitch fees and sales commission charged by the agent / site owner, but that is a different matter altogether.

missminx

Thank you for your reply. The site owner added the fees to the sale price of the caravan. They added VAT to the whole amount of the sale, then deducted a % for themselves. It wasn't for a pitch, but for the caravan itself.
Also, can they add VAT when they sell you a caravan in the first place (brand new)?

Sorry to be awkward

John_Pierpoint

Where did the BBC get the 1st October date? What was the "tax point" (date) of the contract. Who bought it (ie who is trying to get input tax into their business any normal consumer purchaser would tend to squawk if charged unnecessary VAT; though I do remember buying a consignment of coal at the auction sale from a bankruptcy and protesting that full rate VAT had been added to the hammer price of £60. )

As I remember the intention in the budget was to tax people enjoying the luxury of caravan holidays, while still exempting those forced to live in one as their Principle Private Residence? [amazingly daft idea when the country has a massive balance of payments problem, to add costs to the "staycation" alternative and the employment it can generate.]

It is not clear from your posting who legally owns the caravan and the legal nature of your contract with the site owner.
Perhaps you only have a lease on the caravan?
or have you sold the caravan to the site owner and he has leased it to the new user.

Anyway assuming that the site owner is acting as a second hand car salesman, he would most likely be paying VAT on the margin scheme?

Here is 18 pages explaining how to make a simple idea into a snakes nest of rules:

http://customs.hmrc.gov.uk/channelsPortalWebApp/channelsPortalWebApp.portal?_nfpb=true&_pageLabel=pageVAT_ShowContent&id=HMCE_CL_000101&propertyType=document

Do I smell a VAT fiddle ?
If so shop them to HMRC?

missminx

Hi. Thanks for reply. We owned the caravan,and paid ground rent to have it on their site. I think I will check the paperwork very carefully and check withHMRC.