VAT update - June 2012

VAT Notice 700/56 - Insolvency has been re-issued to accommodate the following changes:

• the HMRC addresses shown throughout this Notice have been updated to accommodate the move of the National Insolvency Unit from Queens Dock in Liverpool to Regian House in Liverpool;
• Section 1.5 contains a new email address for the Voluntary Arrangement Service in Worthing;
• Section 7.7 details an amendment to the process of claiming VAT refunds using form VAT 426;
• Section 15.2 details an amendment to the process of applying to end the tax year and make the annual adjustment at the relevant date for partially exempt insolvent businesses.

VAT Notice 700/34 - Staff has been amended to reflect the withdrawal of the Staff Hire Concession. Consequently, the text of the Statement of Practice reproduced in the Appendix has been changed to reflect this.

VAT Notice 742 - Land and Property has been amended to accommodate the following changes:

• Paragraph 2.5 - definition of 'licence to occupy land';
• Paragraph 4.4 - guidance on parking for dwellings, and
• Paragraph 7.8 - guidance on the treatment of land and buildings on hand at deregistration.

This VAT consultation and technical note explains the changes to the existing UK VAT invoicing rules to reflect the changes introduced by the EU Council Directive 2010/45/EU. The consultation was issued 31 May 2012 and has a closing response date of 12 July 2012.

VAT Notice 700/7 - Business Promotions has been updated to take account of developments in both law and policy. This notice is intended for businesses who:

• make gifts of goods or services;
• give away goods which are samples of their supplies;
• are involved in business promotion schemes, for example cash-back schemes or where goods or services are given as rewards to either retail or trade customers;
• are involved in the issue, supply or redemption of coupons or vouchers.

VAT Notice 700 is the main reference guide to Value Added Tax (VAT). This notice has been restructured and rewritten to improve readability. The technical content is largely unchanged from the April 2012 edition, however, two important amendments have been made to the content:

• removal of the concession in respect of misunderstanding by a VAT registered trader - paragraph 2.5
• amendment of the sample VAT invoice to reflect the new standard rate of VAT - paragraph 16.7

VAT Notice 727 - Retail Schemes helps when choosing a scheme which best suits your business.  It also provides information on matters common to all our schemes (for example, recording your daily gross takings, what to do if the VAT rate changes or if you cease using a retail scheme) and rules on special circumstances such as catering supplies:

• retail supplies made by chemists and 
• supplies made by florists.

Section 9 has been amended to provide further guidance to those businesses that are required to carry out the retail chemist adjustment.