Import/Export: VAT and Overseas Trade

Course Overview

This essential one-day course addresses the specific VAT problems routinely encountered by those businesses engaged in overseas trade. The course is designed as an introduction to the VAT accounting and reporting requirements and covers the supply and receipt of both goods and services. The course adopts a practical approach to this often misunderstood area of VAT and includes consideration of when a UK business may need to register for VAT in another EU country and how it can reclaim VAT which it has incurred overseas.

Audience

• Finance Directors
• Group/chief accountants
• Financial controllers/finance managers
• Accounts managers and supervisors
• Tax managers, advisors and supervisors
• Financial and management accountants
• VAT managers and accountants
• Treasury analysts

Non-financial staff will also find this programme useful, including:

• Contract managers
• Credit managers
• Import/export managers

Skills Gained

This popular programme will bring you up-to-speed on:

• 1. VAT treatment of imports and exports and the evidence required
• 2. Essential differences between EU and non-EU trade
• 3. Registering for VAT overseas
• 4. Statistical requirements
• 5. Recovering VAT overseas
• 6. VAT treatment of international services

Course Outline

1. Scope of UK VAT

• What is a supply?
• Place of supply?
• Taxable person
• Liabilities
• Standard-rated
• Reduced rate
• Zero-rate
• Exempt
• Outside the scope

2. Non-EU movement of goods - imports

• Definition
• Import entry procedure
• Duty and VAT deferment
• Evidence for VAT recovery

3. Non-EU movement of goods - exports

• Conditions
• Failure to meet conditions
• Direct exports
• Indirect exports
• Retail exports
• Export of motor vehicles
• Proof of export

4. EU movement of goods

• Key concepts
• EU sales/despatches
• Conditions for zero-rating
• Europa - VAT registration verification
• Evidence of despatch
• Transfer of own goods
• EU customer collection
• Acquisitions/arrivals
• Goods acquired from EU suppliers

5. Do I need to register abroad?

• Place of supply and distance selling
• Anti-avoidance measures
• New means of transport
• Consignment stocks
• Call-off stocks
• Chain transactions
• The problem
• Examples and analysis
• Triangulation
• Acquisitions
• Quiz!

6. International services

• Place of supply
• Basic rule
• Land-related services
• 'Supplied where performed'
• 'Supplied where received'
• Transport
• Freight transport
• Services supplied where the customer belongs
• Use and enjoyment provisions

7. The internet - problems and solutions

• 'Electronically supplied services'
• Evidence of residence
• Services of intermediaries
• Quiz!

8. Reclaiming foreign VAT

• Reclaiming EU VAT
• Conditions
• Non-reclaimable VAT
• Procedures
• Time limits
• Use of agents
• Reclaiming non-EU VAT

9. EU trade and statistical requirements

• European Sales List (ESL)
• ESL errors and penalties
• Intrastat
• Supplementary declarations
• Intrastat enforcement