VAT Regulations

The Irish Antique Dealers Association has written to Ireland’s finance minister to press for VAT-free status as a green retail business, to relieve them of the 13.5% value-added tax they currently pay.

Brexit minister Dominic Raab revealed the government has hired an extra 300 staff for the Home Office’s Border Force ready for the UK’s exit from the European Union and will recruit another 1000 “ready to deal with any increase in work”.

Small businesses were given a small reprieve in chancellor Philip Hammond’s Autumn Statement today with an update on business rates and the VAT threshold.

The British Antique Dealers’ Association (BADA) has teamed up with Descartes Systems Group to help members manage interactions with Customs Authorities.

The new arts minister John Glen MP has vowed he will do all he can to support the art market’s interests in government.

Small businesses are celebrating after plans to enforce online quarterly reporting were delayed by government.

Two representatives from HMRC were part of a panel answering questions about Temporary Admissions (TA) at a BADA seminar last week.

Art and antiques industry figures are urging “cool heads and steady hands” in the wake of the UK’s vote to leave the European Union, while stressing the UK’s continued prominence in the global art market.

Arthur Swallow Fairs, organisers of the Lincolnshire Antiques & Home Show, have chosen to ‘phoenix’ their company to avoid a tax liability dating back three years.

COMMENT: So we finally have a ruling from the VAT tribunal but it is not good news.

Showground fair organisers have reacted with disappointment to the news that exhibitors must pay 20% VAT on pitch rentals.

Exhibitors at British showground fairs must pay 20% VAT on pitch rentals, a tribunal has decided.

The tribunal that will decide if British showground fairs must charge 20% VAT on pitch rentals will go ahead on February 10-12.

Auction houses who refund VAT on the buyer’s premium to overseas purchasers without ensuring that the correct paperwork is in place could find themselves liable for the tax themselves.

The French art world has welcomed their government’s decision to cut, rather than increase, the rate on tax for works imported in to France from outside the EU.

Campaigners against changes in VAT that affect showground fairs met for the first time at a crisis summit in London. They now intend to form a trade federation to fight the changes.

Nelson Events and IACF have announced that they will start charging reduced rate VAT on stands at their fairs from October 1. In a letter to ATG this week, they explain why they have been forced into this move, albeit reluctantly.

Fair organisers IACF say they may be forced to charge dealers VAT on stalls this year – even as they launch a legal appeal against new Revenue rules demanding the levy.