Question about reclaiming VAT at airport

eragonn

I Am a retailer and vat registered, if i buy goods new to sell abroad and i got the invoice, can i claim the VAT back on the airport as i will be selling them there? Your help is much appriciated.

JasonLVC

If you are a retailer and VAT registered then if you sell your goods in the UK you would charge VAT at the standard rate (17.5%).

If you dispatch (export) those items to another business within the EU, you would ask the customer to supply their EU VAT Number and then you would zero rate (0%) the sale to that business customer.

If you dispatch (export) those items to an individual or a non-VAT registered busines then you would charge VAT at 17.5%. As the customer is not VAT registered, it cannot reclaim the VAT you have charged them.

If you export the items outside of the EU, then whether the customer is a business or individual, the sale is outside the scope of VAT, so you don;t charge VAT at all.

There is absolutley no reason for claiming VAT at airports and as a VAT trader it is YOUR responsibility to ensure that if the item is genuinely exported outside the EU that you have the paperwork to prove this, otherwise HMRC will want the VAT.

Also, flying on a place from UK to Spain with your 'goods' to give to the customer will not be sufficient evidence of transport and VAT will be liable.

CarolynH

Jason's spot on.