VATPOSG3520 - Main rules: distance selling: distance sales to Northern Ireland

UK Law {#}

Schedule 9ZB, paragraph 29

29(1) Goods whose place of supply is not determined under subsection (2) or (3) of section 7 (place of supply of goods) are treated as supplied in the United Kingdom where—

(a) the supply involves the removal of the goods to Northern Ireland by or under the directions of the person who supplies them,

(b) the supply is a transaction in pursuance of which the goods are acquired in Northern Ireland from a member State by a person who is not a taxable person,

(c) the supplier—

(i) is liable to be registered under Part 9 of Schedule 9ZA, or

(ii) would be so liable if the supplier were not already registered under this Act or liable to be registered under Schedule 1 or 1A, and

(d) the supply is neither a supply of goods consisting in a new means of transport nor anything which is treated as a supply for the purposes of this Act by virtue only of paragraph 5(1) of Schedule 4 or paragraph 30 of Schedule 9ZB.

Commentary {#}

Paragraph 29(1) applies where a supplier is making distance sales from an EU member State (see VATPOSG3510) to customers in Northern Ireland. Without this the place of supply is the member State of departure of the goods (see VATPOSG3810). But in cases where

  • the value of supplies to Northern Ireland customers exceeds the UK threshold (see below), or
  • a supplier, with sales below the threshold, has opted in the state of dispatch to make the place of supply to Northern Ireland customers in the UK, or
  • the supply involves goods that are subject to excise duty (in which case the threshold does not apply)

then the place of supply becomes the UK and the supplier is liable to register for VAT in the UK.

The new EU distance selling threshold from 1 July 2021 is 10,000 Euros (£8,818) per calender year. Exceeding it is what triggers the liability to register under Part 9 of Schedule 9ZA, as referred to in Paragraph 29(1)(c) above. You can find out more about registration for VAT as a result of distance sales in the manual covering registration (VATREG).