Value Added Tax Act 1983

Reliefs

16Zero-rating

(1)Where a taxable person supplies goods or services and the supply is zero-rated, then, whether or not tax would be chargeable on the supply apart from this section,—

(a)no tax shall be charged on the supply; but

(b)it shall in all other respects be treated as a taxable supply;

and accordingly the rate at which tax is treated as charged on the supply shall be nil.

(2)A supply of goods or services is zero-rated by virtue of this subsection if the goods or services are of a description for the time being specified in Schedule 5 to this Act or the supply is of a description for the time being so specified.

(3)Where goods of a description for the time being specified in Schedule 5 to this Act, or of a description forming part of a description of supply for the time being so specified, are imported into the United Kingdom, no tax shall be chargeable on their importation, except as otherwise provided in that Schedule.

(4)The Treasury may by order vary Schedule 5 to this Act by adding to or deleting from it any description or by varying any description for the time being specified in it.

(5)Where a description included in Schedule 5 to this Act (whether by virtue of an order under subsection (4) above or otherwise) is of a supply of goods or services outside the United Kingdom or of a transaction which would not otherwise be a supply of goods or services, the supply or transaction shall for the purposes of this Act be treated as a supply of goods or services in the United Kingdom.

(6)A supply of goods is zero-rated by virtue of this subsection if the Commissioners are satisfied that the person supplying the goods—

(a)has exported them ; or

(b)has shipped them for use as stores on a voyage or flight to an eventual destination outside the United Kingdom, or as merchandise for sale by retail to persons carried on such a voyage or flight in a ship or aircraft.

(7)Regulations may provide for the zero-rating of supplies of goods, or of such goods as may be specified in the regulations, in cases where the Commissioners are satisfied that the goods have been or are to be exported and such other conditions, if any, as may be specified in the regulations or the Commissioners may impose are fulfilled.

(8)Regulations may provide for the zero-rating of a supply of services which is made where goods are let on hire and the Commissioners are satisfied that the goods have been or are to be exported during the period of the letting, and such other conditions, if any, as may be specified in the regulations or the Commissioners may impose are fulfilled.

(9)Where the supply of any goods has been zero-rated in pursuance of regulations made under subsection (7) or (8) above and—

(a)the goods are found in the United Kingdom after the date on which they were alleged to have been or were to be exported ; or

(b)any condition specified in the regulations or imposed by the Commissioners is not complied with,

and the presence of the goods in the United Kingdom after that date or the non-observance of the condition has not been authorised for the purposes of this subsection by the Commissioners, the goods shall be liable to forfeiture under the [1979 c. 2.] Customs and Excise Management Act 1979 and the tax that would have been chargeable on the supply but for the zero-rating shall become payable forthwith by the person to whom the goods were supplied or by any person in whose possession the goods are found in the United Kingdom; but the Commissioners may, if they think fit, waive payment of the whole or part of that tax.

17Exemptions

(1)A supply of goods or services is an exempt supply if it is of a description for the time being specified in Schedule 6 to this Act.

(2)The Treasury may by order vary that Schedule by adding to or deleting from it any description of supply or by varying any description of supply for the time being specified in it and the Schedule may be varied so as to describe a supply of goods by reference to the use which has been made of them or to other matters unrelated to the characteristics of the goods themselves.

18Relief on supply of certain second-hand goods

(1)The Treasury may by order make provision for securing a reduction of the tax chargeable on the supply of goods of such descriptions as may be specified in the order in cases where no tax was chargeable on a previous supply of the goods and such other conditions are satisfied as may be specified in the order or as may be imposed by the Commissioners in pursuance of the order.

(2)The amount of the reduction that may be secured by an order under this section shall not exceed the amount of tax that would have been chargeable on the previous supply had tax been chargeable on it at the same rate as that at which the tax to be reduced would be chargeable but for the reduction.

(3)An order under this section making provision for reducing the tax chargeable on the supply of goods of any description may include provision—

(a)for giving relief from the tax chargeable on the importation of goods of that description ; and

(b)for securing the like reduction where no tax was chargeable on the importation of goods of that description as where no tax was chargeable on a previous supply of the goods.

(4)An order under this section may extend to cases where the previous supply or the importation took place before tax was chargeable on any supply or importation.

(5)The preceding provisions of this section shall, with the necessary modifications, apply in relation to cases where consequential relief from tax was given on a previous supply by an order under section 14(10) above but the relief did not extend to the whole amount of the tax.

(6)An order under this section may make different provision for goods of different descriptions and for different circumstances.

(7)In this section references to a supply on which no tax was chargeable include references to a transaction treated by virtue of an order under section 3(3) above as neither a supply of goods nor a supply of services.

19Relief from tax on importation of goods

(1)The Treasury may by order make provision for giving relief from the whole or part of the tax chargeable on the importation of goods, subject to such conditions (including conditions prohibiting or restricting the disposal of or dealing with the goods) as may be imposed by or under the order, if and so far as the relief appears to the Treasury to be necessary or expedient, having regard to any international agreement or arrangements.

(2)The Commissioners may by regulations make provision for remitting or repaying, if they think fit, the whole or part of the tax chargeable on the importation of any goods which are shown to their satisfaction to have been previously exported from the United Kingdom.

(3)The Commissioners may by regulations make provision for remitting or repaying the whole or part of the tax chargeable on the importation of any goods if they are satisfied that the goods have been or are to be re-exported and they think fit to do so in all the circumstances and having regard—

(a)to the tax chargeable on the supply of like goods in the United Kingdom;

(b)to any value added tax which may have become chargeable in another member State in respect of the goods.