Jay Cooke

Useful starting point here https://www.gov.uk/hmrc-internal-manuals/vat-food/vfood7600 and there are a couple of case law examples to dwell on. If you are buying this product from a wholesaler/manufacturer for sale in your own shop, then the VAT treatment from the seller is probably a good indication of the VAT treatment, although not always a guarantee of accuracy. This forum is unlikely to give you a definitive answer as the VAT treatment will depend on a multi-factorial approach - which means how the product is held out for sale (is it on the fruit juice aisle or sold alongside chilled soft drinks), marketing (does the labelling indicate the product is healthy, used for cooking or for drinking), ingredients, how the product is to be consumed (in a glass, on the move/on the go, etc).....although it does sound very similar to an Innocent Smoothie drink/beverage, which is mentioned in the above guidance/link. So for a definitive reply you would need to submit a non-statutory clearance to HMRC, whereby you write to HMRC and explain why you are uncertain as to the VAT status of the product and then provide as much detail as possible (photos of the product, where it would be displayed, etc) and then HMRC will have sufficient information to give their view. Link on how to subit a non-statutory clearance here : https://www.gov.uk/guidance/non-statutory-clearance-service-guidance

Generally, the place of supply of B2B services is that reverse charge applies, so the German supplier should not be charging you German VAT at 19%, this is assuming the services you are buying are general rule services. For example, land related services such as surveying land in Germany would still be charged with German VAT, as would certain telecom services (use and enjoyment). Link to HMRC Notice : https://www.gov.uk/guidance/vat-place-of-supply-of-services-notice-741a You cannot reclaim foreign VAT on a UK VAT return, you can only reclaim UK charged VAT, so this 19% is a cost you just have to absorb or the better approach is to go back to the supplier, point out to them that you are a business with a UK VAT registration and that their supply/invoice to you likely falls under reverse charge and hopefully they will re-issue their invoice but without the 19% VAT. The supplier must be satisfied that you are "in business", so if you are a sole trader "Sarah Bellerby" and you order services from Germany using your own name, they may see you as a person buying personally rather than as a business buying for the business. whereas if you were a company "Sarah Bellerby Ltd" then it is obvious you are a business. I note you state you are an entity, but you may have ordered goods in your own name by accident, for example, if you have a LinkedIn or Spotify account, chances are this will be in your own name, even if you use both only for business purposes, it is rare for people to sign up to LinkedIn as a business or have a corporate Spotify account.

Place of supply of goods - https://www.gov.uk/hmrc-internal-manuals/vat-place-of-supply-goods/vatposg3300 - is where the goods are at time of sale/dispatch. Where the goods are physically in the UK and they are shipped/exported to outside the UK, this is a zero rated sale, as you have already stated is the case in your post above. Where the goods are physically outside the UK and EU (for example a Chinese supplier drop-shipping direct to your customer), then these sales are outside the scope of VAT. So where the goods are physically stored not in the UK, then you are correct that those sales (sales where the goods are not in the UK), are outside the scope of UK VAT. But having accepted that the place of supply of goods is where the goods are at time of sale, where you are shipping goods directly from an EU supplier, then technically what is happening is that you (UK entity) acquire the goods from the EU supplier in the EU, you then own these goods in the EU and you ask the EU supplier to ship your goods to your customer. The EU supplier is not shipping those goods with their own invoice inside the parcel are they? If they did, the customer might ask why they are buying from you (with a mark-up) when they could buy direct from the EU supplier. If then, you accept that you take ownership/acquire goods in the EU member state where the supplier is based, then it would mean you are obliged to register for VAT in that EU member state (you are a non-EU business making supplies of goods from an EU location). It is surprising that the EU supplier is not charging you EU VAT (although you don't actually state whether the supplier is charging EU VAT or not), but if they are not, then that is their issue but be mindful that in the future the supplier may get a tax inspection from their local tax office and may be required to backdate VAT charges to you. If they are charging you EU VAT, then you cannot reclaim this on the UK VAT return and it simply becomes a base cost which eats into your margin. If you were VAT registered in the EU member state where the goods dispatch from, you would zero rate the sale and declare as such on your EU VAT return.

For it to be a ToGC, the buyer must be in the same position as the seller (VAT registered/opted to tax property), else if conditions for ToGC not met, then it is not a ToGC and the property is sold to buyer on a plus VAT basis. See section 11 and 11.2 https://www.gov.uk/guidance/opting-to-tax-land-and-buildings-notice-742a#transfer-of-a-business-as-a-going-concern On what basis will the buyer/pension fund be reclaiming VAT? The right to reclaim VAT is on the basis you are making taxable supplies. Rent is an exempt supply unless the buyer "opts to tax" the property. So without an option to tax, you cannot charge VAT on rent and if you are not charging VAT on rent, then you cannot reclaim the £40k input tax. Once the property is opted to tax, the buyer is then making a taxable sale and input tax (£40k) can be reclaimed, but when you then deregister, you would have to declare output tax on the market value of the property. See section 7.1 - 7.2 https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/vat-notice-70011-cancelling-your-registration/vat-notice-70011-cancelling-your-registration#business-assets-and-stock-on-hand

I think you recognise that you probably need to register for German VAT. At stage (2), when UK orders the goods from German parent, does title/ownership shift from Germany to UK? In other words, is this sale recorded as a sale by the UK entity/UK turnover or is the sale recorded as a German sale/German turnover and the UK entity receives a commission from Germany for arranging the sale? As your later question asks about charging VAT on your UK invoice, it suggests you (UK) take ownership of the goods in Germany before they are shipped to Netherlands (else the Netherlands customer could just order directly from Germany and cut you out altogether). If UK takes ownership of the goods in Germany, then UK entity should be VAT registered in Germany, there would then be a domestic (Germany to Germany) sale between German parent and UK entity taking ownership of goods in Germany, then UK entity with ownership of German located goods would ask the German parent to ship the goods (owned now by the UK entity) to the customer in Netherlands, UK entity records that sale on their German VAT return (not the German parents VAT return, the UK entities German VAT return). Do you not have an Accountant or advisor in Germany to assist with this?

If your company is VAT registered then yes, you would charge VAT on the fee you are charging to the sole trader. Also, if you are leasing the van, you should check the contract as you will likely find the lease company will not be happy that you are sub-leasing, you are responsible for insuring and taking care of the vehicle, so how can you insure a van in your name (as per lease requirement) and then sub-lease to someone else, is the sole trader going to insure the van for their use? What if there is an accident or stolen? If you are sub-leasing outside of the lease agreement then you may find both your and the sole traders insurance (if they have any) is invalid.

Invoicing USA for what? - Goods or services? If goods, sales would be exports and zero rated and zero rated counts towards gross turnover under flat rate (you'd be declaring output tax on these sales at your flat rate % even though you are zero rating the sale to the customer). If services, assuming the default rule is in play, services would be outside the scope of VAT and do not count towards gross turnover and no output tax is due on such sales. If services, be mindful of the limited cost trader rules, which will see your flat rate percentage changed to 16.5% for each VAT quarter where the limited cost trader rules are triggered.

I think Amazon are saying that in the past the Amazon fees would not have been subject to VAT (they would have been reverse charge) but from August, Amazon will charge UK VAT on Amazon fees and as you are using flat rate, you cannot reclaim the VAT on the Amazon fees. So I don't see this change as affecting the actual price you sell for (£10) and the VAT you declare on your sales (75p). You never did receive £10 into your business account from Amazon, if we assume a £1.50 Amazon fee, for each £10 sale you make you would receive £8.50 into your business bank account (but still declaring output tax to HRC based on the £10 selling price/75p VAT). That £1.50 was previously non-VATable/reverse charge, now that £1.50 will be plus VAT of 30p so your £10 sale will see you receiving £8.20 into your business bank account, a difference of 30p (the VAT on the Amazon fee). Whether flat rate works for you is something you need to think about, discuss with an Accountant, etc. It looks like Amazon are simply saying any sales made by UK sellers will be invoiced by Amazon via Amazons UK VAT number and no longer via Luxembourg.

The time to pay/debt management team is contacted by calling 0300 200 3831 The time to pay agreement is usually agreed during the phone call, the first part of the call is security, you will be asked questions about the business details so that HMRC know they are talking to the business. Second stage is for you to propose a realistic repayment period (12 months, maybe 18 months), there may be some negotiation by HMRC, but you will end up with a proposal that should be agreeable. Third stage is HMRC will take the first payment from you over the telephone during that call, they will also take your bank details to set up a direct debit for the remaining monthly payments over whatever number of months you have agreed. In my own experience, HMRC rarely "call you back", something as important as a £350k debt, you should call back, daily if needs be until matter is resolved. There will be notes of your previous conversation on file, HMRC will be able to see what was discussed and agreed, so you should not have to repeat yourself. Presumably, HMRC didn't want to make a decision during your original phone call, but it is poor that they have not called back, but lesson for the future, don't expect a call back, you must call them each time to progress matters.